


An Aviator's Heart

by Kagami_Sorako



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Temeraire Fusion, BAMF!Yuuri, Everyone else is still a Figure Skater, M/M, Military!Yuuri, More Confident Yuuri, They calm down later, Viktor and Yurio are assholes in the beginning, War Hero!Yuuri, Yuuri has a Possesive and Jealous Dragon, Yuuri is still a sweet cinnamon roll, hurt!viktor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-10-08 02:05:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 55,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10375440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kagami_Sorako/pseuds/Kagami_Sorako
Summary: Teenager Yuuri always thought his future would be on the ice. But it changed when one day he finds a dragon egg. Curious he brings it home and soon the dragon hatches and Yuuri finds himself inexplicably drawn to him. After Aoba and him are found out, they have to enter the Dragon Air Force and Yuuri has to proof himself to the other dragon captains, the Air Corps and the whole military, all the while having to care for a way too curious and intelligent dragon.Eight years later Yuuri is a highly decorated officer and war hero and meets his long lasting Figure Skating Idol Viktor Nikiforov. After a lot of problems and confusion, Viktor and Yuuri grow closer. Everything could be perfect ... if it weren't for an overly possessive and jealous dragon who is not at all pleased at the idea of sharing his beloved captain and aviator with an insolent and ungrateful Figure Skater.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. =D  
> ... What am I doing? Uploading another story? I have way too much ideas for fanfictions ...  
> Anyway, welcome to my new story "An Aviator's Heart". I was cleaning up my room when I found the 'Temeraire' book series again and I somehow couldn't get the idea of an overly pouting dragon out of my head. And here I am, a new story. =)  
> This whole story plays in our time, but I adopted the dragon breeds and somehow the universe from the first book, for I love them. =)  
> That means, the dragons are intelligent as humans and can speak and think like them and are mostly in the military and have their own branch.  
> If you have time, check the series out, it's amazing. =D  
> For now, have fun with this chapter. =)

Katsuki Yuuri never considered what his future might bring. He tried to live in the moment and tried to survive day by day without thinking too much of what might come. 

No, that wasn’t completely right. He had a wish. But he knew it could never come true. For he was a nobody without any outstanding talent. 

His wish? To stand on the same ice as his big idol Viktor Nikiforov. So he trained hard every day and made plans to go to college after high school but … he didn’t know if he could make it. He skated for years now and did ballet even longer, but he just had the feeling that he hid a dead end and was not able to overcome it. 

And he was not blind. Minako-sensei, his ballet teacher, a former Prima ballerina herself, who had praised him in his younger years so thoroughly, had a disappointed look in her eyes these days when she watched him train. He knew he couldn’t go much further. 

Now he didn’t know what to do. He had considered his future before, but he couldn’t imagine what he should do. Skating was his great passion, but when he realized that he didn’t have enough talent, he thought about what else there was. And nothing came up. Yuuri could continue working at the onsen his parents owned, but this future seemed strangely grey to him. 

It wasn’t as if he didn’t have a little more time. After all, he was just 15 and just entered high school. He still had time … right?

But a life of a figure skater was short lived and he had barely entered international competitions. If he wanted to compete, then he would have to have more than that. 

So his hopes weren’t high at the moment.

Yuuri was currently on his way home. The black haired student just sighed as he rubbed a few bruises he got from being shoved too hard at school. Again. He let his head down. He knew it was pathetic, but he just couldn’t stop himself or raise his voice against those bullies. What would he even do? His only friends were Yuuko and Takeshi and those were upperclassmen and rather popular. So he didn’t get to hang around them much in school. And he didn’t have other friends or even people who he would call nice acquaintances, for the whole school knew of his passion for dancing and figure skating and thus he was treated as an outcast. It was strange for a boy to like this after all. 

But he had gotten used to it. All the shoving and hitting. If he would just look down and try to not stand out, they wouldn’t hurt him so much or belittle and insult him. So he got used to keeping a low profile. And sometimes it worked. But most days they would still find a reason to hurt him. And he refused to tell his parents or teachers, for he didn’t want to be a burden to them. 

So he endured. Day after day.

But this particularly day would change his life completely. Why? Well, he would find something truly interesting.

In this world, dragons were living among us. They were mostly used in the military as reinforcement in the air force. It took humanity long to tame and breed them and they were considered dangerous weapons. As soon as they would break out of their shell, they would be assigned a captain, his aviator, and he alone was able to control the dragon. 

Yuuri didn’t know much about them. Just some things he always heard in passing here in Japan, like they needed a lot of care and a lot of time. An aviator would be bound for life with a dragon and the Dragon Air Force was a part of the military not really reputable in society, even though they did were part of the military. The Aviators were often looked at with disdain and had not much of a good reputation. So they tended to stay under themselves on the more rural parts of the country where they have more space and were more isolated from the rest of the population.

He didn’t give them much thought, for he knew he wasn’t even the slightest suitable for the military, and the few times he met a dragon, which was not more than seeing them fly over his head in a great distance above, he felt more fear for they were really imposing and dangerous even if they were so far away.

The day started like any other school day and Yuuri was currently on his way home from school, walking a detour to the beach. Today was a day where his bullies just couldn’t let him go. So he had several bruises all along his body.

When he arrived at the beach, he could finally breathe again. He was alone at least and he couldn’t help but smile. Yuuri was used to his life of course but it didn’t change his wish to have at least a few more friends or his wish to be more confident to fight for himself. But he couldn’t change what he couldn’t now.

When Yuuri was enjoying the breeze, his gaze suddenly landed on an object probably swept ashore by the waves. But he was confused nonetheless. For it was a very big and black box. The lid seemed heavy but not too much and the lock was rusty broken probably because of the sea. It looked quite valuable.

The black haired boy was curious and decided to look at it further. He kneeled down and removed the lock, which didn’t take much, and opened the lid. There he could only find straw. Much to his surprise it was still dry. So no water came inside it. 

The student dug around, still curious, and was surprised when his fingers met hard resistance. So he removed the straw and what he saw made him gasp. 

Inside was white shell. 

He removed all of the straw and he could see the oval form it had. It was an egg. A purely white egg which looked like marble and was hard to the touch. 

But Yuuri just couldn’t fathom why someone would leave an egg here. Then he thought more about it. It was bigger than any egg he had ever seen and he didn’t know what it might be. 

Yuuri sat there for a little longer and just stared at the egg, tracing it absentmindedly, before he realized, that the sun was going down. With startled expression he realized how late it was and sprang up. He had to go home!

The back haired boy was about to turn around when his eyes fell on the egg. He just couldn’t leave it here! So the boy emptied his bag and put the white thing inside, putting straw on top of it and hoped it wouldn’t get damaged. 

When Yuuri arrived home, he greeted his parents and sneaked into his room shortly after and put it on his bed. Then stared again. What could be inside?

But the boy was no fool. He knew it was a dragon’s egg, for nothing else could be this big. So why hadn’t he called the authorities and just gave it to them? He didn’t know. Maybe it was his curiosity, maybe he was just hit too many times, but he somehow didn’t want to leave the egg just yet.

But here he was. Sitting on his bed and not knowing what else to do. So Yuuri started to browse. He looked up different races that are typical for Japan and tried to find out more about what to do with a dragon as soon as it hatched. 

After another hour of research, he found out that in Japan freshly hatched dragons are put into harness, for if not they might want to fly away right after being fed. Interesting.

Yuuri looked up the harness and found out that it was a construct of leather which led around the neck and through his back and under his belly. Not having something else to do he stole his mother’s sewing kit and several leather straps before he starting sewing what he saw on the picture. He did his best to include straps and buckles for the case he was bigger than anticipated. He didn’t know why he did it, for he would give it to the Air Force before it should hatch, but he was still not willing to part with it.

Yuuri hid the egg carefully in his wardrobe and when he came home from school, and was sure that he was alone, he brought it out and talked to it. 

The boy didn’t know why but it somehow felt right and good to talk to the egg. He could tell it things and it would listen, things he couldn’t and didn’t want to tell his parents. He cared for it and did his best to keep it warm by bundling it in old blankets he kept in his room. 

He knew he would have to call the military soon, for he knew that Japan didn’t have many dragons, like the Island country they were, and every one of them was too precious to be just kept as a pet. Besides, even though he heard that Dragons could speak the human language and should be intelligent, he still couldn’t quite believe it and he was sure that the dragon would soon grow up big and would start to become dangerous.

One week passed.

In the middle of the night Yuuri was awoken by scratching and the noise was like someone hitting something. In a frenzy he sat up and looked around in panic. 

Then he realized that the noise came from his wardrobe. Where he kept the egg.

Yuuri’s eyes widened in realization. Oh no! No no no no! It couldn’t hatch now! It was way too early and he hadn’t contacted the military yet! What should he do?!

In a hurry he opened the wardrobe and grabbed the egg, put it on his bed and stared at it in worry. Then the first crack appeared. The first glimpse of movement could be seen inside, a clawed wing tip poking out, talons scrabbling out of a different crack. The end came abruptly. The shell broke almost straight down the middle and the two halves were flung apart onto the bed, as if by the occupant's impatience. The dragonet was left amid bits and pieces, shaking itself out vigorously on the pillow. It was still covered with the slime of the interior, and shone wet and glossy under the artificial light of the lamp. Its body was a pure, untinted black from nose to tail, and a sigh of wonder ran throughout Yuuri as it unfurled its large, six-spined wings like a lady's fan, the bottom edge dappled with oval markings in grey and dark glowing blue in perfect symmetry and pattern. The dragonet was occupied in examining itself and picking off bits of shell that had stuck to his body in a fastidious sort of way. Though it was barely the size of a large dog, the five talons upon each claw were still an inch long and impressive.

Yuuri could only stare at it with an open mouth. He had never seen a black dragon before and it seemed quite big for a hatchling, at least to his eyes. Breaking out from his stupor, he grabbed for the harness and was about to turn around when he saw that the dragon paid him no mind, jumping down from the bed and exploring his room. The boy was suddenly relieved after he realized that he had locked the door and he could not just escape. 

But the dragonet was more interested in his furniture and it flicked out a long, narrow forked tongue as it walked, lightly touching everything in its reach, and looked about itself with every evidence of curiosity and intelligence.

Yuuri suddenly flushed and was filled with embarrassment, when he realized, that all his posters of Viktor Nikiforov were still spread wide on his walls. Well, he didn’t expect the dragon to hatch in his room!

And suddenly he realized that he was still staring at the dragonet. And he suddenly didn’t know what to do. And he felt guilty. The dragon so obviously didn’t show any interest in him and was more intelligent as it seemed and he realized that he had no clue as to what he was doing. What if the dragon wouldn’t let him put the harness on? Would he break out and leave him? 

He should have called the Air Force earlier. He shouldn’t have been so selfish and keep it to himself, shouldn’t have relished in the quite comfort the dragon egg gave him. Because now it didn’t seem like he could control the situation.

And suddenly his anxious was back. He felt the self-doubt and self-hate consuming him and he felt spiralling down deeper and deeper into the abyss.

But then suddenly the dragon was on the bed again, sitting in front of him and staring at him with curious eyes. It blinked at him. Yuuri noticed its eyes were a deep blue and slit-pupil, and then it asked: “Why are you frowning?"

The boy needed all his willpower to not let his mouth drop open, but he couldn’t stop himself from gaping at it. He stared at the dragon and then took a deep breath and said to the creature: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. My name is Katsuki Yuuri. And yours?”

Yuuri’s body went rigid when he realized what he had just done. What was he thinking?!

The dragonet didn’t seem to notice, but puzzled at the question for several moments, and finally said, with a dissatisfied tone: "I don’t have a name." 

Yuuri had read enough in the Internet to know how he should answer. He asked formally: "Can I give you one?"

It - or rather he, for the voice was definitely masculine - looked him over again, paused to scratch at an apparently flawless spot on his back, then said with unconvincing indifference: "If you please." 

And now Yuuri found himself completely blank. He had not given any real thought to the process of harnessing at all and he had no idea what an appropriate name might be for a dragon. In his panic he took a heightened notice of the deep blue in his eyes and the blue in his patterns and his brain somehow combined the colour with dragon and he pressed out: “Aoba,” thinking of the elegant fall of a leaf from a tree. And now he realized what it meant. If the dragon accepted the harness from his hands, then he was bound to him. Completely. He would have to leave his current life behind and could kiss his civil life goodbye.

The dragon, not realizing the turmoil inside him, said: “Aoba? Yes. My name is Aoba." He nodded, an odd gesture with the head bobbing at the end of the long neck, and said more urgently, "I’m hungry." 

A newly hatched dragon would fly away immediately after being fed, if not restrained, only if the creature might be persuaded to accept the restraint willingly would he ever be controllable or useful in battle.

His palms were sweating and the metal and leather felt slippery as the boy put the harness into his hands. He gripped it tightly and asked, remembering at the last moment to use the new name: "Aoba, would you be so good as to let me put this on you? Then I can make you fast to the bed and bring you something to eat." 

Aoba inspected the harness which Yuuri held out to him, his flat tongue slipping out to taste it. "Very well," he said and stood expectantly. Resolutely not thinking beyond the immediate task, Yuuri knelt and fumbled with the straps and buckles, carefully passing them about the smooth, warm body, keeping well clear of the wings. 

The broadest band went around the dragon's middle, just behind the forelegs, and buckled under the belly, this was stitched crosswise to two thick straps which ran along the dragon's sides and across the deep barrel of his chest then back behind the rear legs and underneath his tail. Various smaller loops had been threaded upon the straps, to buckle around the legs and the base of the neck and tail to keep the harness in place and several narrower and thinner bands strapped across his back. 

The complicated assemblage required some attention, for which Yuuri was grateful, he was able to lose himself in the task. He noted as he worked that the scales were surprisingly soft to the touch, and it occurred to him that the metal edges might bruise.

So Yuuri grabbed an old shirt of his, cut it into long pieces and wrapped it around the buckles, although they were ugly against the sleek black body. But Aoba made no complaint, even as Yuuri wrapped a thick leader chain around the bedpost and connected it to the dragon. Then he stood up, motioned for the hatchling to wait while he would bring him food.

The black haired sneaked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, finding a few kilograms of fresh meat inside. Without further delay he grabbed it and ran up as quietly as possible. In his room he motioned for the dragon – Aoba – to come down from the bed and gave him the meat, which he ate with gusto.

Aoba was not a clean eater. Big pieces of the food just went down without care. When he was done, he stretched his wings in the artificial light of Yuuri’s night lamp and folded them in and out. Finally he turned around the boy and said: “Would you please take these off? I would like to go flying now.”

Yuuri hesitated, the description of the harnessing ceremony in the internet had provided no further instructions beyond getting the dragon into harness and talking, he had somehow assumed that the dragon would simply stay where it was without further argument. As it was obviously not the case, he had to think fast.

“If it would not bother you, it would be better to stay here first. It’s dark outside and I don’t think you would find the way back so easily. Especially considering that you don’t know the place.” He finally answered.

“Oh,” said Aoba, craning his neck to look outside the window, “Where are we?” 

Yuuri sighed silently in relief. “We are in Hasetsu, Kyushu. In the south of Japan,” He answered, then he stood up, putting the rest of the meat back into the bag and hurrying into the bathroom attached to his room, wetting a towel. When he returned, he started to clean away the traces of the messy meal from the glossy black hide, Aoba submitted with evident pleasure to being wiped down and afterwards appreciatively rubbed the side of his head against Yuuri's hand. Yuuri found himself smiling involuntarily and stroking the warm black hide and Aoba settled down, tucked his head into Yuuri's lap, and went to sleep.

The boy lifted the dragon up and put him in his bed. Then he laid down next to him and tried to think of what to do now. 

Yuuri had put the harness on him and that would mean that the dragon was practically his. But when he thought about it, a wave of desperation filled him. He didn’t have a clue about dragons, he never meant to the military and he was no man of violence. The worst thing was his age. He was just 15! Way too young to be bound for life. And as far as he knew, dragon aviators are far older and more experienced than him. 

As a captain of a dragon he was supposed to lead a crew and he couldn’t do that. He didn’t have the charm, wits or charisma to lead a group of men way older and stronger than him. 

Yuuri didn’t know what to do. He was so scared!

But when he looked down at the dragon, he felt an odd sense of peace coming over him. Yuuri couldn’t really describe this feeling, but it felt warm. The dragon laid in his arms, snoring softly, which was a strange noise, and Yuuri could see his chest rising and falling with every breath he took. He looked so peaceful. As if nothing in this world could bother or hurt him. The teenager couldn’t help but smile down at him. Finally he sighed and curled around the hatchling. 

Be as it may, but Yuuri just couldn’t bring himself to regret their encounter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =D  
> So, I'm actually brooding over physics but I thought, I'm on break for an hour and updating everything else either way, then I can update this too. The chapter was done a few days ago anyway. So I hope you don't mind me updating. =D  
> I want to clarify some things a bit. =)  
> Those who know and read the Temeraire series know that the Dragons are treated as Nobility and are advised not to take a handler. But for the sake of this story, just pretend that Japan has the same dragon policy as the britains in the book. Meaning the dragons are weapons to the country and the aviators have a bad reputation. China is a bit better, for they have more and understand them better, but they won't be treated as nicely as in the book series, except for the Celestials and Imperals, for they are still special to the Chinese. The rest of the world isn't much better with the dragons, treating them just like Britain, and with more brutality in Russia. I hope you don't mind, because I'll try to have a bit of this story better developed in the second part of the series. =)  
> So, have fun with this chapter. =)

The next morning Yuuri was awoken by a snout pushing against his face. Tired as he was, he tried his best to ignore it and turned around. He was too tired. 

“Yuuri? Yuuri! _Yuuri!_ I’m hungry again!”

… What? Why would Vicchan be hungry? 

“Vicchan! If you’re hungry, then ask Mari-nee-chan. You always sleep with her after all.” The boy mumbled and pulled his blanket over his head again. The dog, who was actually for him, preferred his sister over him after all. And as soft-hearted as he was, he let him. Yuuri could after all see that his sister adored the dog just as much. Even if he was a bit jealous.

“Vicchan? Who is that? My name is Aoba. And who is Mari?”

“What are you talking about? You’re …” Suddenly Yuuri jumped up. The memories from yesterday flooded his brain and he almost choked. The dragon!

In panic he stared around and then was suddenly face to face with a black dragon. … Yuuri searched for his glasses and as he put them on, he stared at the lizard in front of him. 

“Who is Vicchan?” He asked again and Yuuri shook his head.

“It’s nothing. I’m sorry I mistook you. He’s actually my dog, but he prefers my sister. So I let him.” Yuuri explained and stroked the dragon’s head softly. The black creature purred and snuggled closer to the hand.

“I’m hungry.” He just said and Yuuri nodded. Then he looked at Aoba again and frowned. Was this imagination or did he seem bigger than last night?

Regardless, he needed food. Yuuri searched for the leftovers of the meat and stood up. 

“Stay here. I’ll search for more.” He answered and the dragon just growled as confirmation while he still buried his head in the meat.

Yuuri had luck. His parents were still not up and his sister was probably outside. So he sneaked into the storeroom and looked around. He needed more meat. Fast. Another stroke of luck when he saw four complete chickens laying around and he grabbed them, sneaking back into his room.

As it seemed, Aoba had finished his meal and looked around, yearning for more. He started to beam when he saw the boy entering their room with his arms full of food. The black haired boy wasn’t sure if he would like it, but after a few seconds of tasting carefully, the first chicken went down his throat. And in no time at all, all four chickens were eaten. Yuuri grabbed a wet towel and started to clean him again, Aoba fell asleep soon after. 

Yuuri was beginning to worry. The dragon ate more and more with every meal and he seemed to grow fast, for he was almost double the size from yesterday already. His room was small and the dragon wouldn’t fit through the door soon. So what should he do?

An hour later the boy could hear his parents waking up and starting the day, his sister going for a walk with Vicchan. Aoba woke up and stared around in confusion.

“What is that noise?” He asked and Yuuri shushed him.

“Those are my parents. They just woke up.” Then he stared at the dragon intensively. “Listen,” He said, “I’ll have to go to school soon. You have to stay at home. But no one can find you. I’m going to search for more food for you and bring it to you. So you have to stay absolutely still. While I’m away, I’ll search for a place where you can stay. My room will soon be too small for you, so we’ll have to bring you outside. Can you do that?”

The dragon stared at him but nodded. “Okay. But can you bring me food first? I’ll get hungry again if you’re going to be away for too long.” And Yuuri nodded. “Why do I have to be silent? Are they not allowed to know that I’m here?” Aoba asked and Yuuri sighed.

“If they’ll find out, we’ll both be in so much trouble. It’s better if they don’t find you. I’ll lock the door and close the curtains while I’m away. Is that okay?” He answered and the dragon nodded. 

“Yes. But please remember the food.” 

Yuuri laughed and stood up. When he left the room, he had to think hard. He couldn’t steal meat again, it’ll be too suspicious. But what could he give the dragon to eat?

Just in this moment the boy could hear the noise of a van. It was the van who brought them their weekly food supplies. Yuuri looked outside and saw how his parents invited the man inside. Just as he was about to look away, he saw a few big fishes. And suddenly he got an idea.

Maybe Aoba liked fish?

So when the boy saw his parents entering and serving the supplier in the main room, he slipped outside and opened the van, grabbing three of the biggest fishes, closing the door and sneaking inside through the back door. 

Aoba was still sleeping, but when he heard the door opening and saw Yuuri, he lifted himself up.

“That’s fish. I hope you’ll like it, too.” The boy explained and Aoba stared at the seafood in concern. Then he bit into the smallest one and in a few seconds the whole thing was inside his stomach.

“It crunched a little but I kind of liked it.” He said and let himself be cleaned again. Yuuri sighed in relief.

Yuuri changed clothes and got ready for school.

“I’ll leave them here so you can eat when you get hungry again. I’ll be back as soon as possible, okay?” He said and patted the dragon on the head again. It just nodded and rolled into himself again, falling asleep quickly.

In school the black haired could barely concentrate. All his thoughts were with the dragon sleeping inside his room and he became worried. He still had to search for a place for the dragon to stay after all. 

 

In the middle of the third lesson he stood up and pretended to be sick. Yuuri just couldn’t bear leaving the dragon alone after all. The teacher was surprised but finally permitted it. Yuuri was a model student and so she didn’t think he would be lying.

Finally Yuuri could leave the school and return. But when he was about to cross the street, he got a better idea. When he had a few more hours, then he could start searching for a place for Aoba to stay. It should be a place hidden from view and he should be able to hide himself. A big enough cave would be great! Maybe with a water place for him to drink.

But the boy knew he couldn’t have too much hope for finding a natural cave.

However, today really was his luck day for he really found a perfect cave. In a forest, half an hour walk and close to a cliff and the sea, was a big hole in the wall, dry and shielded from wind and cold and especially view. And in the middle of it was a well springing out of the ground, so Aoba could have fresh water as much as he wanted. The place in general was very big and Yuuri thought here the dragon could grow as much as he wanted. 

So Yuuri instilled the way into his brain and ran back home. When he arrived, he told his parents that he doesn’t feel well and wanted to sleep. At the offer from his mother to eat something, he just told her that he wasn’t hungry and that if he was, he would tell her. 

When he arrived in his room, he was met with a dragon sleeping, both whole fishes were eaten and all around him was a mess. When Aoba heard him entering, he opened an eye as and yawned.

“Welcome back,” he sad and Yuuri went into the bathroom to wet the towel again. 

“I’m home,” Yuuri answered and cleaned the creature from all leftovers from his meal. Then he started to clean the mess that was his room and after a while he stared at the dragon unhappily.

How could it be, that a dragon, which hatched not 24 hours ago was already almost as big as his bed? That wasn’t fair! But this also made him realize, that he had to act fast. The dragon would have to be smuggled out of his house. 

While he worked on the leather straps and widening them so Aoba could fit more comfortably, he explained: “Tonight, when everyone sleeps, I’m going to have to smuggle you out of here. I found a cave perfect for you. It’s big and dry and has even a well with fresh water. You’ll feel comfortable there.” 

That aroused the dragon’s attention. “My own cave?” He asked and Yuuri nodded.

While Aoba was sleeping, Yuuri opened the internet. He knew that he would have to feed him even if he was out of the house and he couldn’t continue to steel from his parents. But he already found out that the creature liked fish, so maybe he wouldn’t mind eating fish for a while longer. As they were directly at the ocean, Yuuri could maybe fish until he was old enough to hunt for himself. 

So he googled on how to make fish traps and did his best to reconstruct them. He also tried his best to build a chain to fasten it on Aoba’s harness, so he could use it like a leash. He made it of two old bicycle locks, which he combined the two last links with two karabiner hooks just to make sure they were secure.

 

When it was dark and Yuuri was sure that everyone was distracted, Yuuri sneaked into the kitchen again and stole the biggest fish he could find, grabbed another chicken and brought him into his room for Aoba’s supper. The fish vanished fast and the chicken was for dessert. After he was cleaned again and the room also cleared, they both waited until they were absolutely sure that everyone was fast asleep.

The duo sneaked out of the room and it took a lot of shushing and controlling before they finally left the house. It wasn’t so easy, as Aoba’s talons scraped against the floor and he was way too curious, looking around in wonder and Yuuri had to sometimes pull a little on the make-up leash and Aoba followed him willingly. 

When they were finally outside, Yuuri breathed out in relief. It cost him quite a few nerves to navigate them outside without waking the whole onsen. But now he could breathe a little freer. He had researched the best and most hidden route to the cave and now they were on their way. 

The whole adventure did happen just at the right time. Aoba was now as long as his bed and just with a lot of effort did he get the dragon out the door. The creature had to lay his wings as flat to his body as possible to get through and Yuuri’s heart stopped a few times when he thought they made too much noise. But nothing came tumbling outside.

Yuuri led the dragon on his leash, humming happily while Aoba looked up at the sky and stars in wonder. After another 45 minutes they finally arrived, the boy lightening the flash lamps he had brought with him and introducing him to his new home. The dragon looked around curiously and walked to the well, drinking a bit before nodding. “I like it here.” He declared and Yuuri led him into the back, where he fastened the chain around a rock. Then he stroked his snout. 

“I’m happy to hear it,” He answered and smiled softly at him. The dragon stared at him in wonder and finally nudged him before settling down and rolling around himself. 

“I’m coming back tomorrow with more food, okay?” Yuuri said and Aoba just nudged him again. The boy laughed and waved his goodbye.

When he went outside, he sneaked down another path he found, down to a secret and small beach, surrounded by rocks and cliffs and thus very hard to find. On a deep and clear place he fastened his fishing traps and just hoped that they worked. Then he went home.

 

The next morning, Yuuri was barely awake, he jumped out of his bed, dressed himself as quickly as possible, and ran to his secret fishing traps, hoping that he had been successful.

As luck would have it, he had been because he could find several fishes in all sizes inside. There were small ones and bigger ones. He was happy that he was intelligent enough to lay out not just one but three traps as to capture as much as possible. And that was good, because now he had at least ten kilogram of fresh fish to present Aoba as breakfast.

So he heaved them out of the water and walked back to the cave, where Aoba awoke as soon as he entered. He looked quite happy with his breakfast and soon after the fish was down his throat. Yuuri cleaned him with a brought towel and water from the well and smiled. Then he said his goodbyes after Aoba fell asleep again and he put the traps back where they were, hoping to catch as much until the afternoon when he returned.

And he did! He was really successful with his traps and he was glad that he could feed his dragon, who did nothing more than eat, sleep and grow. Yuuri even had to add a few more traps to catch more because, just like his size, his appetite also grew. So the days continued and at the end of the week Aoba was the size half of his house. 

 

The next week started and the weather changed. Yuuri could feel it in the air as he walked from the school to Aoba’s cave. When he arrived, he wasn’t even surprised that the dragon was already awake, waiting for him and staring at the sky curiously. The sky darkened fast and soon after heavy raindrops fell and thunder growled in the distance, lighting falling down the sky. Yuuri frowned. It would be hard to walk home like that. 

“What does it do?” Aoba suddenly asked and stared at the lightning in fascination. The student stared at the dragon and answered the rough physics behind it, the creature listening with rapt interest. 

“I want to see it up close!” He suddenly said and stood up. In his horror Yuuri realized, how big the dragon really became. His legs, once as slim as his wrists, were now almost twice as thick as his tights. He towered over him easily and Yuuri had no way of holding him down by force. And now he realized, that he hadn’t thought about the chain keeping him on the ground. While he did adjust the harness every day, he had completely forgotten about the chain. So now it was dangling uselessly around his neck and Yuuri, in a last ditch attempt, jumped onto his back and grabbed the leather, trying to hold himself. 

Then Aoba jumped. He went out of the cave and spread his pure black wings, relishing the drops falling down his body and suddenly they were in the air. Yuuri gripped the leather as tightly as possible for to not fall down and plummet to death and in his fear he clung to the body under him as tightly as possible.

Instinct had brought him up into the air, but it might not be enough to keep them there. Aoba was being forced to the east of the cave. He kept trying to fight the wind head-on, there was a terribly dizzying moment where they went tumbling before a sharp gust, and Yuuri thought for an instant that they were lost and would be dashed into the waves. 

"With the wind," he roared with every ounce of breath he never thought he had, just like in all the movies he watched, hoping Aoba could hear him. "Go with the wind, goddamit!"

The muscles beneath his cheek strained, and Aoba righted himself, turning eastwards. Abruptly the rain stopped beating in Yuuri’s face, they were flying with the wind, going at an enormous rate. He gasped for breath, tears whipping away from his eyes with the speed. He had to close them. It was unlike any other experience he ever made. There was a reckless laughter trying to bubble out of his throat, and he only barely managed to stifle it and think sanely. 

"We can't continue to fly like that," he called. "You must tack! You must go to north, then south, Aoba, do you understand?" 

If the dragon answered, the wind took the reply, but he seemed to have grasped the idea. He  
dropped abruptly, angling northwards with his wings cupping the wind. Yuuri's stomach dived like when he was on a roller coaster. The rain and wind still battered them, but not so badly as before and Aoba came about and changed tacks as good as a road racer in the finals, zigzagging through the air and making gradual progress back in a westerly direction. 

Yuuri's arms were burning. He thrust his left arm through the back-band against losing his grip, and unwound his right hand to give it a respite.

After another round through the ocean Yuuri screamed: “We have to get back! The storm is getting stronger and if you continue, you’ll tire out too fast and the wind will throw you against the cliffs! Fly back!”

Aoba’s wings beat furiously, but luckily they could now fly with the wind instead against it and with it he made his way back to his cave. When they finally arrived in the shelter of the cave, he let himself fall onto the ground ungracefully. As soon as Yuuri was able to free his limbs from the leather, he fell down, panting hard and laying on his back on the ground, together with the dragon, who similarly to him dropped down on all fours beside him. 

Yuuri breathed hard, but forced himself to stand up and coaxed Aoba to move a little more to the back, in fear that the rain and cold might still come inside. He obliged and just at the right time, for as soon as Aoba settled down once again, he yawned enormously and tucked his head down beneath his wing, ready to sleep for once without making his usual demand for food. Yuuri slowly lowered himself to the ground and leaned against the dragon's side, his body still ached from the strain. 

He roused himself for only a moment longer. He felt the need to speak, though his tongue felt thick and heavy with fatigue. "Aoba," he said, "that was well done. Really good." 

Aoba brought his head out and gazed at him, eye-slits widening to ovals. "Oh," he said, sounding a little uncertain. Yuuri realized with a brief stab of guilt that he had rarely given the dragon a kind word before this. The change of his life might be the creature's fault, in some sense, but Aoba was only obeying his nature and to make the beast suffer for it was hardly nice. And it was also mostly his fault for being selfish and keeping him too long and thus having to put him into harness himself.

But he was too tired at the moment to make better amends than to repeat, lamely, "Very well done," and pat the smooth black side. Yet it seemed to fulfil its purpose. Aoba said nothing more, but he shifted himself a little and tentatively curled up around Yuuri, partly unfurling a wing to shield him from the cold wind, still sweeping inside. The fury of the storm was muffled beneath the canopy, and Yuuri could feel the great heartbeat against his cheek. He was warmed through in moments by the steady heat of the dragon's body and this sheltered he slid abruptly and completely into sleep.

 

The next day Yuuri could barely wait to get out of school, for he had something special planned. When he finally arrived at the dragon’s cave, he was greeted by a happy dragon, waiting eagerly for him and the black haired boy left his school bag unceremoniously on the ground, grabbing a thick jacket and putting it on to protect himself against the cold wind. Then he climbed at the leather straps up and sat down, preparing himself.

He shifted his weight and pulled against the straps wrapped snugly around his thighs and calves, they did not give, nor did the main part of the harness, and he remained stable in his perch atop Aoba's back, just behind the wings. He leaned forward and patted Aoba's neck, the dragon's head was doubled back, observing the proceedings with interest. 

"Are you ready? Can we go now?" he asked, putting a forehand on the exit. Muscles were already gathering beneath the smooth hide and there was a palpable impatience in his voice. 

Yuuri casted off the chain and took hold of the neck-strap. "Okay, Aoba, let’s-" A single leap, and they were in the air, the broad wings thrusting in great sweeping arcs to either side of him, the whole long body stretched out like an arrow driving upwards into the sky. He looked downwards over Aoba's shoulder, watching as their cave got smaller and smaller. He could even see their onsen in the distance.

The wind was enormous but the straps were holding and Yuuri was grinning idiotically again, he realized, unable to prevent himself. 

"We will keep to the west, Aoba," Yuuri called. He didn't want to run the risk of getting too close to land and possibly encountering a ship with humans and people. He had put a band around the narrow part of Aoba's neck beneath the head and attached reins to this, so Yuuri was easily be able to give direction. Now he consulted the compass he had strapped into his palm and tugged on the right rein. The dragon pulled out of his climb and turned willingly, levelling out. The day was clear, without clouds, and a moderate swell only. Aoba's wings beat less rapidly now they were no longer going up, but even so the pace was devouring the kilometres. The cave and the land were already out of sight. 

"Oh, I see one," Aoba said and they were plummeting down with even more speed. Yuuri gripped the reins tightly and swallowed a yell. He shouldn’t feel so childishly gleeful. The distance gave him some more idea of the dragon's eyesight. It would have to be prodigious to allow him to sight prey at such a range. He had barely time for the thought, then there was a tremendous splash, and Aoba was lifting back away with a porpoise struggling in his claws and streaming water. 

Another astonishment: Aoba stopped and hovered in place to eat, his wings beating perpendicular to his body in swivelling arcs. Yuuri had had no idea that dragons could perform such a manoeuvre. It was not comfortable, as Aoba's control was not very precise and he bobbed up and down wildly, but it proved to be very practical for as he scattered bits of entrails onto the ocean below, other fish began to rise to the surface to feed on the discards and when he had finished with the porpoise he snatched up two large tunnys, one in each forehand, and ate these as well, and then an immense swordfish. 

Having tucked his arm under the neck-strap to keep himself from being flung about, Yuuri was free to look around himself and consider the sensation of being master of the entire ocean for there was not another creature or vessel in sight. He couldn’t help but feel pride in the success of the operation and the thrill of flying was extraordinary. So long as he could enjoy it without thinking of all it would take, he could be perfectly happy. 

Aoba swallowed the last bite of the swordfish and discarded the sharp upper jaw after inspecting it curiously. "I’m full," He said, beating back upwards into the sky. "Shall we go and fly some more?" 

It was a tempting suggestion, but they had been in the air for more than an hour already and Yuuri was not yet sure of Aoba’s endurance. He regretfully said: "Let’s go back to the cave and if you like we can fly a bit more there." 

And then racing across the ocean, low to the waves now, with Aoba snatching at them playfully every now and again, the spray misting his face and the world rushing by in a blur, but for the constant solid presence of the dragon beneath him. He gulped deep draughts of the salt air and lost himself in simple enjoyment, only pausing every once and again to tug the reins after consulting his compass and bringing them at last back to the cave. 

Aoba said he was ready to sleep again after all, so they made a landing. This time it was a lot more graceful. Yuuri unstrapped his legs and climbed down, surprised to find himself a little saddle-sore, but he realized that this was only to be expected. 

"You did great and I think we don’t need to worry about your meals in the future. We will manage just fine," He said, stroking the dragon's side. Aoba, already drowsing, opened one eye and made a pleased rumbling noise, then closed it again.

 

Yuuri sat next to his dragon, studying history and mumbling loud to himself, when he felt Aoba waking up.

“What are you doing?” The dragon asked and stared curiously at the notes in Yuuri’s hands. The boy smiled.

“I’m studying.” He answered, then sighed, “History can be interesting if just the teacher wouldn’t seem to be bored also.” 

The dragon peered over his shoulder and nudged his human. “What does it say?” The student smiled at the creature and started to tell him about the Sengoku time of Japan and the three people who united the country. He told him about the wars, whose army and their dragons fought against whom, how outstanding the general’s strategies were. And Aoba listened with big interest.

“So 1560 in the battle of Okehazama Oda Nobunaga just had 2000 soldiers and 10 dragons while Imagawa Yoshimoto invaded the today’s prefecture Aichi and Shizuoka with 25 000 soldiers and 20 dragons and Oda Nobunaga still won?” Aoba asked disbelieving and Yuuri laughed.

“Yes. Oda Nobunaga counts as one of the most genius Daimyo in that time and thanks to strategy and tactic he managed to win.” The boy explained. 

Aoba still couldn’t believe it and Yuuri started to research more in his history book, reading the articles out loud while the dragon listened carefully. The dragon was a good listener and asked many questions, some of which Yuuri couldn’t find answers to but promised to look up when he would return home. The dragon was disappointed, but he was content with waiting if he would get his answers. 

In the following days Yuuri realized that the dragon was quite intelligent, for he loved studying with Yuuri and, as embarrassing as it was, sometimes understood things faster than him and it was a little painful if Aoba explained him math and chemistry instead of the other way around. 

But as it seemed, he was most interested in history. The black creature loved listening to stories of war, listening to how dragons and humans fought against each other and one side surfacing victorious.

“Yuuri?” Aoba one day asked, “Are there no more wars?” And the boy startled.

“There are,” He answered, not knowing how to continue, as he now was suddenly reminded what he was doing. He was raising a dragon all by himself when he should have informed the army ages ago. But Aoba was still at his side, still flying with him as aviator and still growing up in peace. Then he sighed. “These stories are of course happenings in the past, but there are still wars today. The military of Japan and most countries have an air force, where dragons and their aviators work together with planes and mechanical flight machines. Japan also has one.”

Aoba raised his head in happiness. “Oh. So why aren’t we there?” He asked and Yuuri hesitated. How should he explain him that he was actually scared of entering the military? He wanted to be a figure skater and have a peaceful future, not being involved in war and blood.

So he shrugged his shoulders. He knew that he was just stalling. Aoba was getting bigger with every passing day and it wouldn’t be long until he would have to inform the air force. But that didn’t mean he wanted to. “I just think that I’m not ready for it.” He answered with quiet voice and looked down at his hands. Aoba just nuzzled him, realizing the mood turned dark and trying to cheer him up.

“It’s okay,” He said, “I don’t mind not participating if you don’t want to.” Yuuri smiled gratefully and stroked his nostrils. Then he continued to read to him.

 

It was a few days later that Yuuri, normally quite shy and scared, decided to relent to his dragon’s wishes and fly over the area, so Aoba could see more of this part of the country. So the boy dressed himself warmly and climbed up his always bigger getting body and they flew high into the sky. Yuuri forced him to fly high enough to barely been seen or mistaken for a bird but low enough so Aoba could see more of the world under him. Thanks to his good eye sight, they could go quite a height.

Flying helped a lot to soothe his fear and anxiousness. It was impossible to be anxious with the whole city of Hasetsu spread out before him and the wind in his hair, and Aoba excitedly pointing out new things of interest, such as animals, houses, carts, trees, rocks and anything else which might catch his eye. He had lately worked out a method of flying with his head partly turned round so that he could talk to Yuuri even while they flew. By mutual agreement, he landed at last at an empty road that ran along at the edge of a deep valley. A bank of clouds was rolling thickly down the green southern slopes of Mt Kagamiyama, clinging to the ground, and he sat to watch their movement in fascination. 

Yuuri dismounted. He was still growing used to riding and was glad to stretch his legs after an hour in the air. He walked about for a while now, enjoying the view. Aoba returned to watching the clouds.  
"Can we go over to those clouds? I'd like to see why they are moving like that." 

Yuuri looked at the shrouded hillside dubiously, but he more and more disliked telling the dragon no when he didn't have to. It was so often necessary. 

"We can try it if you like," he said, "but it seems a little risky. We could easily run up against the mountainside and the wind would slam us against the rocks." 

"Oh, I'll land below them and then we can walk up," Aoba said, crouching low and putting his neck to the ground so Yuuri could scramble back aboard. "That will be more interesting in any case." 

It was a little odd to go walking with a dragon, and very odd to be the faster one. Aoba just had to take one step while Yuuri had to take ten, but he took them slowly, being more occupied in looking back and forth to compare the degree of cloud cover upon the ground. Yuuri finally walked some distance ahead and sat down upon the slope to wait. Even under the heavy fog he was comfortable thanks to the heavy clothing which he had learned from experience to wear while flying. 

Aoba continued to creep very slowly up the hill, interrupting his studies of the clouds now and again to look at a flower or a pebble. To Yuuri's surprise he paused at one point and dug a small rock out of the ground which he then brought to Yuuri with apparent excitement, pushing it along with the tip of a talon, as it was too small for him to pick up in his claws. 

Yuuri grabbed the thing, which was about the size of his fist. It certainly was interesting,  
pyrite intergrown with quartz crystal and rock. 

"How did you see it?" he asked with interest, turning it over in his hands and brushing away more of the dirt. 

"A little of it was out of the ground and it was shining," Aoba said. "Is that gold? I like the look of it." 

"No, it’s just pyrite. But it’s very pretty, isn’t? I suppose you are one of those hoarding creatures," Yuuri said, looking affectionately up at Aoba. Many dragons had an inborn fascination with jewels or precious metals. "I’m afraid I’m not rich enough of a partner for you. I'll not be able to give you a heap of gold to sleep on." 

"You’re more important to me than a heap of gold, even if it were very comfortable to sleep on," Aoba said. "I don’t mind the cave." 

He said it quite normally, not in the least as though he meant to deliver a compliment and immediately went back to looking at his clouds. Yuuri was left gazing after him in a sensation of mingled amazement and extraordinary pleasure. Besides that, warmth he could not describe spread through his chest. He could not imagine a comparable feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know many will say that no one can have this much luck with everything, but just imagine Yuuri had and that he really did find and handled everything like this. =)  
> I hope you still liked the chapter. =)  
> I'm going to return to studying. -.-  
> This is going to be a loooong night. -.-  
> Wish me luck for my exam tomorrow. -.-  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =D  
> Bye =D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. =D  
> I'm back. =)  
> Okay, next week is my next exam, but I hope she likes us more than our physics professor. But because I don't have much time - again- I sat down yesterday and wrote the next chapter. I'm actually studying, but I'm currently on supper break. =D  
> So you'll get the chapter today. Hope you'll like it. =D

A few days later, when Yuuri went home from school and was on his way to Aoba, he came across a jeweller and stared at the different pieces on display. His gaze was drawn to a golden chain which was absurdly heavy, the sort of thing no woman could wear and too gaudy for a man, thick square links and small pearl drops hanging from them. It was reduced in prize, probably because no one wanted it, but the tag still made him choke, for he was saving for a new pair of high class skates actually and had the money almost complete. But then he thought about how Aoba might be happy with it and he purchased it anyway. And felt a bit like a fool. 

He gave it to Aoba that same day anyway and was a little surprised at the happiness with which it was received. Aoba clutched the chain and wouldn’t put it aside. He brooded over it in the flashlight while Yuuri read to him and turned it this way and that to admire the light upon the gold and the pearls. When they parted ways, it remained entwined with his talons and the next day Yuuri was obliged to attach it securely to the harness before Aoba would consent to fly. So he wasn’t bitter about the skates at all. His old were still perfectly fine. And seeing the dragon this happy made it worth not owning the skates from the same brand as Viktor’s who did the advertisement for them.

 

The days went by and the two were perfectly happy with spending their time together, Aoba became Yuuri’s best friend and listener and the boy found his companion quite satisfying. So it was with a panic, when he one day came home, his parents waiting for him with pale faces, his sister staring at him in uncertainty and Minako-sensei in question. Next to them stood a group of four men, all in bottle green jackets and dressed sharply, an air of confidence around them. 

“Yuuri,” his mother called him, standing up and putting her hand to his shoulders. The boy could feel how they trembled. “Is it true? Is it really true what those men are saying?”

The student was confused. “What are you talking about?” he asked and one of them came forward, staring at him. Yuuri shrunk under the piercing and cold gaze and as he motioned for him to sit, he obliged.

The man introduced himself as captain Nakama from the dragon air force and as soon as Yuuri heard it, he froze. Was this it? Did they find out about Aoba? What would now happen to him?

“In the last days we found several evidence that you housed and hid a dragon. I don’t know why and how, but I want you to please verify this statement.” His stare became colder and Yuuri shrunk more. “Tell me, is it true that you have raised a dragon?”

Yuuri couldn’t lie. Not in the face of those men. So after a bit of hesitating, he nodded. His family broke out in nervous murmur and panic.

“Yuuri!” His father called in panicked outrage, “How could you! Don’t you know how dangerous those beasts are? What if it would have hurt you?!” The boy shook his head and his father fell silent after a sharp glance from one of the other officers. The captain in front of him didn’t even look up.

“Tell me,” He asked again, “Do you know what consequences await you? For hiding a precious dragon from us?” Yuuri shook his head again. “You are still underage, but old enough to be hold responsible. The court will deal with you later. First,” His gaze was unforgiving, “Tell us where you hid the dragon and we may find him. He will be assigned to another officer.”

At this Yuuri’s head snapped up. “What?” he asked, disbelief clear in his voice, “I thought that a dragon's handler coudn’t be relieved, that he had to be present at its hatching. Am I wrong?" 

"Under ordinary circumstances, you are correct, and it’s certainly desirable," Nakama said, "However, on occasion a handler is lost to disease or injury and we have been able to convince the dragon to accept a new aviator in more than half of such cases. I expect here that his youth will render the dragon even more amenable to the replacement." 

"I see," Yuuri said. It was all he could manage. Three weeks ago the news would have made him happy, now it seemed oddly flat.

“Naturally we are grateful to you," Nakama said, perhaps feeling some more civil response was called for. "But he will do much better in the hands of a trained aviator, and I am sure you would want to return to your civil life.”

Yuuri could only nod. The compliment had not been a natural one but he could see that the rest of the remark was meant sincerely enough and it made perfect sense. Certainly Aoba would do better in the hands of a trained aviator, someone who would handle him properly. It had been wholly an accident and then his own selfishness that Aoba was with him and now that he knew the truly extraordinary nature of the dragon, it was even more obvious that Aoba deserved a partner with an equal degree of skill. 

"Of course. I’m happy if I could help. Should I take you to Aoba today?" 

“No!” A young man barked, but was silenced after a look from his commanding officer.

“Actually yes,” He answered, “Though we want you out of the way. We want you there but out of sight and out of earshot if possible, so the dragon would be willing to accept another handler more easily.”

Yuuri only nodded mutely. After a few words he went to his room, not bothering to eat supper.

 

A few hours later someone knocked on his door and his sister stood there, white as a ghost with the group of officers behind him. Yuuri stood up and nodded before he put his shoes and jacket on.

The walk to Aoba’s cave was silent, the boy ignoring them and not even trying to make small talk. It was useless anyway. 

When they arrived, he stood away a few dozen meters, just as instructed. He tried not to flinch, when Sakaki, the new handler, threw him a cold glance and walked to Aoba’s home with his head held high, his superior and a few officer coming with him, while three stood back, as if to guard Yuuri.

The boy sighed and stood there awkwardly. After a while he put his headphones in to listen to music and sat down, for he tried to ignore the piercing gazes of the others. And that was the reason, why he didn’t hear the tumult in the beginning. 

Suddenly there was a loud roar, piercing even through the loud music in his ears. He could see them all tumbling out of the cave, some white as a sheet, while Aoba followed them. Yuuri was too shocked to stand up, but he saw that the dragon trembled all over. He teared his headphones out and stared in shock at the display. 

“You will not say such a thing to me again!” roared the creature, clearly in outrage, “Yuuri would never hate me and lie to me! And I won’t listen to anything you say to me! What did you to with Yuuri?!” Aoba lowered his head, but still towered over them threatening. He bared his teeth. “You will tell me at once where he is or I’ll rip you all to pieces!”

Yuuri saw the display and heard the voice and knew how dangerous it was for them, so he did the only thing he could think of.

“AOBA!” He called and the creature whipped his head around. When he saw Yuuri, he ignored everyone else and came with fast strides to him, bent down his head and peered at Yuuri very closely and put out his tongue experimentally to sniff at him, and then at last he cautiously, so cautiously, put out his forehand to curl about Yuuri, shielding him from their all gazes. 

"Yuuri?" he asked, the uncertainty in his voice was painful to hear. 

"Yes, I’m here," Yuuri said. Making a soft crooning noise deep in his throat, Aoba curled both forelegs and wings around him and nuzzled him carefully. Yuuri stroked the sleek nose. 

Yuuri rather heard then saw the strides from the men coming closer and was all the more surprised, when Aoba raised his head and hissed in outrage.

“Don’t come any closer!” The dragon yelled and curled around the boy even closer, “I won’t let you punish him for whatever nonsense you think he has done wrong, which is not true! Come any closer and I’ll trample you all!”

The men stopped and Yuuri knew he had to calm him down, for if not, there might be even more consequences. 

“Aoba!” Yuuri called, trying to raise the attention of the beast. After a few more calls Aoba turned to him. “Please, let me out and let me talk to them.”

But the dragon just shook his head. “No! If I do, then they will take you away from me and hurt you. And I won’t let them do it!”

The captain called: “We won’t hurt him! Let us talk.”

But this just earned him another hiss and Aoba walked backwards, keeping his gaze at them and Yuuri still in his claws. 

“Aoba! Please calm down and let us talk to them. I promise nothing will happen to me. So please uncurl.” Yuuri tried to persuade the beast again and after a lot of warm words and reassuring, the dragon gave him free.

Captain Nakama motioned for him to walk a bit so they could talk, away from prying ears and the other officers. Aoba stood between the other soldiers and the two, as if he was a wall, and kept his eyes at Nakama, as if he didn’t trust him. Which was probably the case. 

Yuuri followed him and they walked down the road in silence. Finally the man sighed. “As you can see,” he said, “Aoba has refused the replacement.” Yuuri flinched. The soldier continued: “It’sn’t something easily to accept, for Sakaki has forfeited his right of promotion until he earns it in another fight.”

Yuuri stared at the ground. “What do you want me to do?” He asked and the captain sighed again, then turned to him. The boy tried his best not to flinch under the piercing gaze. 

“That is something you have to decide for yourself. This decision no one can take away from you. Whatever you decide, it will affect all of us.”

The student went pale but nodded. The man sighed again. “Go speak to Aoba. As you can see, he was not happy when he was told to accept the replacement and he is very agitated.”

Yuuri didn’t need to be telling twice and so he was running back as fast as he could, Aoba already waiting anxiously for him and curling around him as soon as he was close enough. They barely realized that the officers were starting to leave, as Yuuri was stroking his snout and Aoba nuzzled closer, not wanting to be separated again.

“He said that you don’t like dragons and that you didn’t want me.” Aoba said, very low. 

Yuuri could feel tears of rage in his eyes. “He was lying,” he pressed out and snuggled closer.

"Yes, I thought he was," Aoba said. "But it was not nice to hear and he tried to take away my chain. It made me very angry. And he wouldn’t leave and then you still did not come. I thought maybe he would keep you away, and I did not know where to go to find you." 

Yuuri leaned forward and laid his cheek against the soft, warm hide. "I am so sorry," he said. "They persuaded me it was in your best interests to stay away and let him try.”

Aoba was quiet for several minutes while they stood comfortably together, then said: "Yuuri, I suppose we can’t just stay here?" 

"Yeah, they wouldn’t let you go," Yuuri answered, lifting his head. He was puzzled by the question. 

"If you would like to have your former life back," Aoba said, "I will let someone else ride me. Not him, because he says things that are not true, but I will not make you stay." 

Yuuri stood motionless for a moment, his hands still on Aoba’s head, with the dragon's warm breath curling around him. He thought about the last few weeks and his life before. The bullies, the loneliness, the disappointment. And then Aoba, who made him happy with just his companionship and presence. 

"No, Ao," he said at last, softly, knowing it was only the truth. "I would rather have you than any place in the world.”

 

"No, throw your chest out deeper, like so." Narumi stood up on her haunches and demonstrated, the enormous barrel of her red-and-gold belly expanding as she breathed in.

Aoba mimicked the motion, his expansion was less visually dramatic, as he lacked the vivid markings of the female Regal Copper and was of course less than a fifth of her size as yet, but this time he managed a much louder roar. "Oh, there," he said, pleased, dropping back down to four legs. The cows were all running around their pen in manic terror.

"Much better," Narumi said, and nudged Aoba's back approvingly. "Practice every time you eat, it will help along your lung capacity."

“I suppose it’s hardly news to you how badly we need him, given how our affairs stand,” Nakama said and threw a side glance at Yuuri, who stared at his dragon, waiting in horror for the inevitable bloodshed they were going to make. 

Yuuri didn’t know that Captain Nakama had brought his own dragon and that they waited for them at a field outside of Hasetsu. Aoba was delighted to say the least to make acquaintance with another dragon and the two were soon engaging in conversation. As it was, the dragons had already a herd of living cattle next to them, waiting to be devoured. Yuuri was happy that his dear companion would be able to finally eat something else than fish, but that didn’t mean he wanted to watch Aoba hunting and killing them right in front of him. But he couldn’t say anything of course. 

At the remark of the much older adult, he turned around. “What do you mean?” He asked and the captain sighed. 

“Maybe you have heard of it, but Japan is really short-handed with dragons. Every one of them is very precious of course, but we’re the more short-handed on those with real fighting weight. There are many problems all around you, which are of course concealed from the public eye, so I don’t expect you to know anything, but not everything is as peaceful as it seems.” He explained, but still, Yuuri didn’t understand fully.

"I’m sure Aoba will do everything in his power to help you," Yuuri said, glancing over, the dragon in question was on his second cow. "And I know I’m not really the person you would want for an aviator. After all I’m young and still a student and have no experience whatsoever, but I am very willing to learn and will do my very best.”

Nakama sighed and looked down at the ground. "Oh, hell," he said. It was an odd response to make, but Nakama looked anxious, not angry, and after a moment he added, "There is just no getting around it, you are not an aviator. If it were simply a question of skill or knowledge, that would mean difficulties enough, but – “ He stopped.

Yuuri couldn’t understand what else could be a problem but he decided not to ask further.

“You will need to start your training at once, for you will be needed very soon. There is a Longwing in training, which formation you’ll be joining.” He sighed again.

Yuuri nodded. “When do you propose leaving?” He asked.

Grimly the captain answered: “The sooner the better, but I do understand what it all means to you, so I’ll give you until the end of the week.”

It was Wednesday, he would be leaving on Sunday morning. He had only three days left.

While he was still deep in his thoughts, the captain next to him started shouting. Startled, he looked up. The captain was shouting commands at his men who were preparing Narumi for the flight back.

The boy was witness, for the first time, to the operation of a full aerial crew. Aoba and he both watched with interest from the side as Narumi stood patiently under the swarming ensigns, who ran up and down her sides as easily as they hung below her belly or climbed upon her back. The boys were raising up two canvas enclosures, one above and one below. These were like small, lopsided tents, framed with many thin and flexible strips of metal. The front panels which formed the bulk of the tent were long and sloped, evidently to present as little resistance to the wind as possible, and the sides and back were made of netting.

The ensigns all looked to be below the age of twelve. The midwingmen ranged more widely, just as aboard a ship, and now four older ones came staggering with the weight of a heavy leather-wrapped chain they dragged in front of Narumi. The dragon lifted it herself and laid it over her withers, just in front of the tent, and the ensigns hurried to secure it to the rest of the harness with many straps and smaller chains.

Using this strap, they then slung a sort of hammock made of chain links beneath Narumi's belly. A large pad of leather and wool, perhaps the thickness of a man's arm, was laid on top of all, then the hammock's edges were drawn up and hooked to the harness as widely as possible, spreading the weight of the contents and pressing them close to the dragon's belly. Yuuri felt a sense of dissatisfaction with the proceedings, he privately thought he would have to find a better arrangement for Aoba, when the time came. However, the process had one significant advantage over other preparations. From beginning to end it took fifteen minutes, and then they were looking at a dragon in full light-duty rig. Narumi reared up on her legs, shook out her wings, and beat them half a dozen times. The wind was strong enough to nearly stagger Yuri, but the assembled baggage did not shift noticeably. 

"All lies well," Narumi said, dropping back down to all fours, the ground shook with the impact.

"Lookouts aboard," Nakama said, four ensigns climbed on and took up positions at the shoulders and hips, above and below, hooking themselves on to the harness. "Topmen and bellmen." Now two groups of eight midwingmen climbed up, one going into the tent above, the other below. Yuuri was startled when he realized how large the enclosures really were. They seemed small only by comparison with Narumi's immense size.

The crews were followed in turn by the twelve riflemen, who had been checking and arming their guns while the others rigged out the gear. Yuuri noticed Lieutenant Sakaki leading them, and frowned. He had forgotten about him in the rush. Perhaps it was for the best. 

The riflemen having boarded, Narumi walked a complete circuit around and beneath the dragon. "Very good. Ground crew aboard." The handful of men remaining climbed into the belly-rigging and strapped themselves in. Only then did Nakama himself ascend, Narumi lifting him up directly. He repeated his inspection on the top, manoeuvring around on the harness with as much ease as any of the little ensigns, and finally came to his position at the base of the dragon's neck. "I believe we are ready. Katsuki-kun?" 

Yuuri belatedly realized he was still standing on the ground. He had been too interested in the process to mount up himself. He turned, but before he could clamber onto the harness, Aoba reached out carefully and put him aboard, mimicking Narumi's action. Yuuri grinned privately and patted the dragon's neck. "Thank you, Ao," he said, strapping himself in. Nakama had pronounced his improvised harness adequate for the journey, although with a disapproving air. "Sir, we are ready," he called to Nakama. They would accompany them to the cave and then the captain would continue flying, while they would descend. 

"Proceed, then, smallest goes into the air first," Nakama said. "We will take the lead once in the air."

Yuuri nodded. Aoba gathered himself and leapt, and the world fell away beneath them.

 

To say his parents were upset was an understatement. His mother started crying when she heard of his decision and his father, he only knew him to be calm and smiling and well-mannered, got loud and started screaming. Mari was pale. She didn’t say anything but he knew that they would be talking later. 

And just as he suspected, in the evening she knocked on his door and entered, Vicchan in his hands. Yuuri had started to pack. 

“Mari-nee-chan!” Yuuri called and she smiled softly, sitting down on his bed and looking around sadly.

“So you’re really going?” She asked and Yuuri abandoned his task at hand and sat down in front of her.

“Yes,” He answered, but refused to look up. Vicchan sat in Mari’s lap and panted happily, not understanding what exactly was going on.

“What about your dog?” She asked, probably trying to persuade him to stay, but Yuuri shook his head.

“I know that he was never really my dog as soon as he stepped into the house,” He finally looked up and smiled sadly, “I could do what I wanted, he always preferred you over anyone.” Yuuri scratched the dog’s head and it licked his hand gratefully. “That’s why, please take care of him in the future, for I can’t.”

Mari nodded. “Mum and dad are still not happy with your decision,” She said, but Yuuri just shrugged his shoulders. 

“I know,” He mumbled and averted his gaze again, “But they will have to live with it. I’m not leaving Aoba and Aoba will not accept someone else.”

Mari stared at him. “You are not made for the military,” She tried again and Yuuri just shrugged. 

“Then I have to learn. Aoba is my responsibility now and I won’t abandon him. If I have to change to protect him, I will.” He answered and Mari smiled sadly.

“Does he mean that much to you?” She asked and Yuuri looked at her again, smiling.

“Yes.” He answered without hesitation, “He is the first who accepted me so completely, whom I felt such strong bond and trust with. I can’t describe it but he is special to me already and I don’t want to fail him.”

Mari looked at him and then nodded. “It’s useless now to try to persuade you. You made your decision and you’ll get through with it.” She smiled sadly. “I’ll miss my little brother, but I know you’ll do it. You were always more than you thought.” Finally she stood up and hugged him. If he felt something wet on his clothes, he didn’t say it.

After a while she looked up, a teasing smile on her face. Yuuri decided not to comment on the red puffed eyes. “Does your dragon know how you adore Viktor Nikiforov? If you tell him he might get jealous!”

“Mari-nee-chan!”

Minako-sensei was all the same. She didn’t want to believe that Yuuri would give everything up, just to spend the rest of his life with a feral beast. His explanations that Aoba was indeed not a feral beast was ignored. 

“So you want to say, that you’ll give up your whole career, all your dreams, just so to be with some monster?” She asked loudly and Yuuri shook his head.

“Aoba is no monster!” He tried to explain for the fourth time, but he was ignored again.

“I know you’ve been hitting a dead end with your ballet and skating at the moment, but you can’t just give up now just because it got a little hard. You still have so much potential left, don’t just throw it away now.” She tried to persuade him, “Didn’t you want to be on the same ice as Viktor Nikiforov someday? You can’t do that with a dragon on your leash. Yuuri! Please!”

But Yuuri would have none of it. Yuuko and Takeshi tried too to persuade him, but at the end of the day he had enough and flew to Aoba.

The dragon slept in its cave again, but opened his eye as soon as he heard his aviator approach. Invitingly he opened his wing and Yuuri, surprised by this gesture, slipped inside and made himself at home on the foreleg.

“Are we not going soon?” He asked and Yuuri shook his head.

“I know you could go at once, but I still have unfinished business to do.” He sighed. “I asked captain Nakama and I’ll be withdrawn from my current school and transferred to the one at our training ground. I’ll continue with my education, but those will be shorter for me as I have to train. And because I have to catch up to the other aviators, I’ll be spending the barest minimum there.”

“Oh,” Aoba said, puzzled, “Is that why you’re so depressed? Because you can’t go to school anymore?”

Yuuri laughed. “No. That’s not it.” He sighed again. “The problem lies within myself and my friends and family.” His expression soured. “They aren’t happy with my chosen future and try to talk me out of it. But I refuse to give in and I think they don’t like it.”

Aoba nosed him in an attempt to cheer him up. “What would they rather you do?” He asked and Yuuri shrugged, stroking its head. 

“I think everything else besides military.” Yuuri looked rather ashamed to the ground. “You know, before I found you, I wanted to be a figure skater.”

Aoba stared at him in confusion. “What’s that?” He asked and Yuuri smiled at him. 

“Figure Skating is a sport. The athlete glides across a so called rink, a big place of ice, and dance on it. It’s very beautiful to look at.” He explained and shrugged. “Either way, I wouldn’t have gone very far, for I’m not very good.” He laughed again. “My dream was it to be on the same ice as Viktor Nikiforov, you know?”

“Who is that?” The dragon asked again and Yuuri told him about the skater excitingly. How he was the most successful and most beautiful skater of all, how he won medal after medal and was already considered a living legend and how he was Yuuri’s big idol.

They talked for a long time before Yuuri finally decided that he should return home. 

At home he barely ate anything before he vanished into his room, trying to escape the tension in the guest quarters, where everyone tried to avoid his eyes but they still looked at him.

His father didn’t talk to him and his mother broke out in tears every time she saw him. Yuuri didn’t know what else to do and he almost wished he could fly earlier. 

The older captain had given him a map for the route and he studied it with the intention to not think of anything else. In the end he gave it up and went to bed early. 

 

The next day he had enough of it and decided to talk to his family and friends. So in the end Minako, Mari and his parents sat together with him at the table and listened to him, explaining why he decided to do what he did and that he didn’t regret it one bit. 

His mother tried at the same time to persuade him. “Yuuri” She said, “You are way too soft hearted and not at all made for the military. You will only hurt yourself in the process and you might get hurt.”

But Yuuri shook his head. “I know that the possibility always stands, but Aoba would protect me. He wouldn’t let anybody hurt me and I know that I might not be the most ideal person for the corps, but I refuse to leave Aoba alone.”

Minako interrupted. “But he is a feral beast! You can’t expect it to not do you anything or hurt you per accident!”

The boy sighed. “For the last time, he is not some feral beast! He speaks our language, he is intelligent and is very much capable of rational actions. He is just as intelligent as normal humans and not feral! How often do I have to say this?”

His father had been silent the whole time. “I don’t like this,” He finally said and Yuuri looked up in surprise. It was the first word he said to him since their argument the day before. The father looked down at the table, not daring to raise his head. “It’s way too dangerous. And I don’t want you to go to war.” His voice seemed choked and Yuuri had the feeling that he was about to cry. “I don’t want to lose my only son.”

Yuuri was startled when he heard it, but he didn’t know what to say of it. So he just stood up and hugged his father. He seemed more fragile suddenly. After a few seconds Toshiya threw his arms around his boy and squeezed. 

“It’s okay,” Yuuri whispered, “Nothing will happen to me. Aoba will protect me and I’ll be careful.”

His father hugged him tighter and buried his face in Yuuri’s shirt. Soon enough there was his mother, then his sister and finally Minako-sensei.

He now understood. They were all worried about him and didn’t want anything to happen to him. But he knew he couldn’t stay. So he just squeezed tighter.

 

“Do you have anything? Have you packed enough clothes? Maybe another blanket?” Hiroko fussed about her son again and Yuuri could only sigh.

“Mum! Everything is okay, really. I don’t need another blanket or anything, I have everything I need.” Yuuri answered, rolling his eyes exasperatedly.

It was finally Sunday, all his bags were packed and he was ready to go. If it weren’t for his family, running around and checking again and again if he didn’t have forgotten anything. 

Finally they could go after another hour of fussing.

Yuuri lead them all the now well-known path up to Aoba’s cave and soon they found the clearing and Aoba sitting in front of his home, waiting expectantly for his aviator to come. Yuuri could feel rather than see how his family hesitated and finally stood away a good distance. The boy could only sigh. It was to be expected after all. Yuuri wasn’t really afraid, after all he had known Aoba since day one and spent every day with him. But for his parents it would have to be a shocking sight, to see a dragon of almost nine tons and around 15 to 18 meter length. Vicchan started to bark right away, but the dragon ignored the small dog.

“Yuuri!” Aoba greeted happily. “There you are! Are we finally going today?”

Yuuri laughed and nodded.

“Oh, he really speaks!” His mother called in wonder, but still gripped her husband’s arm harder. The boy stared at his family and finally gripped Mari’s and Minako’s hands, bringing them closer and leading their hands to his nostrils.

“Don’t be afraid, he is perfectly behaved.” Yuuri explained and after a bit of hesitation they petted him with utmost confidence.

“Ao, this is my older sister Katsuki Mari. And this is my ballet teacher Minako Okukawa. And those are my father Katsuki Toshiya and my mother Katsuki Hiroko. And that dog down here is Vicchan. They are my family.” Yuuri introduced them and Aoba’s eyes seem to sparkle. 

“Oh? A family! They are something special, right?” He asked and bowed his head. “I am Aoba. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Finally Hiroko and Toshiya came closer and smiled at him. Minako grinned.

“He’s really good behaved, that I give you.” She said and Yuuri led his parents’ hands to touch him. They were soon very comfortable in petting him.

“Yuuri? Would they perhaps like to come up on my back and look around?" The dragon asked, but they all seemed to hesitate. The boy laughed. 

“Perhaps another time.” He said.

“Then maybe fly a little?” He asked again, “You will all be very secure and if you did fall off, I dare say I could catch you all.” which was perhaps not the most reassuring remark, but his desire to please was very obvious, and they all smiled up at him anyway.

“That’s really nice of you, but I don’t think I’m quite at the age of something this adventurous anymore.” Hiroko said and smiled at the dragon. “You will take good care of Yuuri, will you not? He has always given me twice as much anxiety as Mari and forever getting into trouble.”

Yuuri was a little put off to hear himself described so and to have Aoba say, "I promise you, I will never let him come to harm."

Before the boy could say anything, they all laughed and he sighed. He couldn’t change anything anyway. 

Finally Yuuri had secured the bags safely at the improvised harness, which captain Nakama gave his reluctant okay, and was hugged one last time by everyone present.

“Don’t let anyone walk over you, okay?” Minako-sensei told him and gripped him on the shoulders. Yuuri nodded.

“Give your best!” His father said and hugged him.

“Be careful,” His mother said and kissed him on the forehead.

“And call! I want to have at least one message every week!” Mari said and Yuuri nodded when he was out of her hug.

The boy kneeled down and scratched Vicchan’s head for one last time. “Be a good dog and always listen to Mari, okay?” Vicchan yipped in reply and wagged his tail.

They all stepped back as Aoba put Yuuri up and stood watching them, shading their eyes with one hand, as they drove up into the air, a small figure, vanishing with every beat of the great wings and then the cave and the cliff vanished in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Yuuri is up to his training. We're moving forward in a rapid space. Next time, his arrival and his first day. Hope you liked it and had as much fun reading as me at writing it. =D  
> So until next time. =D  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =D  
> Bye. =) ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =)  
> I'm back. =)  
> I had many problems writing this chapter actually because I didn't know how to write his start of Yuuri's military career. I orientated myself at the first book and I'm still not satisfied. -.-  
> But I don't know much about military and wikipedia confused me. So I hope you like this chapter more than I do. =)  
> Have fun. =)

Aerial Command was situated in the countryside just south-east of Shingu, Fukuoka. It had been an easy hour's flight from Hasetsu, with the nature and cities spread within.

Although the message had long preceded him to them and he must have been expected, Yuuri was not called to the office until the next morning. Even then he was kept waiting outside Admiral Nowaki's office for nearly two hours. At last the door opened. Stepping inside, he couldn’t help glancing curiously from Admiral Nowaki to Admiral Kitako, who was sitting to the right of the desk. He couldn’t hear the exact words out in the hall, but he couldn’t have avoided overhearing the loud voices and Kitako was still red-faced and frowning.

"Yes, Katsuki-kun, do come in," Nowaki said, waving him in with a fat-fingered hand. "How splendid Aoba looks! I saw him eating this morning. Already close on nine tons, I should say. I have to give it to you. Excellent work. And you fed him solely on fish the first weeks? Remarkable, remarkable indeed. We must consider amending the general diet."

"Yes, yes, this is beside the point," Kitako said impatiently.

Nowaki frowned at Kitako, then continued, perhaps a little too heartily, "In any case, he is certainly ready to begin training and of course we must do our best to bring you up to the mark as well. Of course we have confirmed you in your rank. As a handler, you would be made captain anyway. But you will have a great deal to do. Ten years' training is not to be made up in a day." He continued without a tone of uneasiness. “We never had a young captain as you before, but in this case I don’t think we have another choice.”

Yuuri’s heart just sank at this news. Great. He didn’t know what to expect, he never had training before and then he was the youngest captain in the history of Japan. Just great.

His heart sank further as Nowaki said: "Now then, we must send you to Ashya. There is no denying that it’s the best place for you," Nowaki went on. "We can’t waste a moment in making you both ready for duty and I wouldn’t be surprised if Aoba were up to heavy-combat weight by the end of the summer."

Yuuri just stared and did his best to supress a sigh.

"It’s one of our largest coverts and certainly the best for intensive training," Nowaki said. "Lieutenant Midorima outside will show you the way and mark a covert along the route for you to spend the night if you need it, even though I doubt it. It isn’t that far away. But currently Professor Ono resides there, who will be classifying him. I’m sure you will have no difficulty in reaching the place."

It was clearly a dismissal and Yuuri was more than glad to escape the room.

Armed by Lieutenant Midorima with an excellent map showing the route, Yuuri began his preparations at once. He fastened the bags and rucksacks he brought with him and asked over and over if they were okay.

"They are quite comfortable. I don’t notice them at all," Aoba assured him, rearing up on his back legs and flapping to make certain they were well seated, just as Narumi had done back in Hasetsu. "Can we not get one of those tents? It would be much more comfortable for you to ride out of the wind."

"I have no idea how to put it up, though, Ao," Yuuri said, smiling at the concern. "But I’ll be okay. This leather coat they have given me is really warm.”

"It must wait until you have your proper harness, in any case. The tents require locking carabineers. Nearly ready to go, then, Katsuki-kun?" Kitako had come to them and interjected himself into the conversation without any notice. He joined Aoba standing before Aoba's chest and stooped a little to examine the bags. "Hm, I see you are bent on turning all our customs upside down to suit yourself."

Yuuri shrunk a little, but tried his best to stand tall. “I didn’t want to use my suitcase, for it’s big and hard and was awkward for him to bear and these seemed the best replacement I could manage on short notice."

"They may do," Kitako straightening up. "I hope you have as easy a time putting aside the rest of your civil thinking as your suitcase, Katsuki-kun. You must be an aviator now."

"I’m willing to do my best,” Yuuri said, in a sudden spurt of confidence, “But I hope you can understand that I grew up different and that I can’t just ignore my upbringing.”

Kitako fortunately took this without anger, but he shook his head. "No, it wouldn’t. And so I told - well. I have come to make something clear. You will swear me by refraining from discussing, with those not in the Corps, any aspects of your training. The government sees fit to give us free hands to give the best possible performance for our duty. We don’t care about the opinions of outsiders. Do I make myself clear?"

Yuuri just nodded, starting to feel unsure again, the command doing nothing to reassure him. But he could hardly make an objection. "Sir," he said, making up his mind trying to draw out the truth, "I’d be grateful to know what to expect from Ashya that it makes the best possible place for me."

"You have been ordered to go there, that makes it the only suitable place," Kitako said sharply. Yet then he seemed to relent, for he added, in a less harsh tone, "Ashya's training master is especially capable at bringing inexperienced handlers along quickly."

"Inexperienced?" Aoba said, blankly. "I thought an aviator goes into the service at the age of seven, You don’t mean there are younger dragon handlers than me."

"No, of course not," Kitako said. "But you are not the first handler to come from outside the ranks, or without as much training as we might care for. Occasionally a hatchling will have a fit of distemper and we must take anyone we can get it to accept." He gave a sudden snorting laugh. "Dragons are strange creatures and there is no understanding them, some of them even take a liking to young school boys." He slapped Aoba's side and left as abruptly as he had come, without a word of parting, but in apparently better humour and leaving Yuuri hardly less perplexed than before.

 

By the time they arrived at the covert, it started to get dark again. As soon as Aoba touched the ground, servants came outside and took care of the baggage, leaving Yuuri alone at the dragon’s side.

The two were still walking next to each other and exploring the place, when a man came into their sight. The obviously older man’s eyes lit up as soon as he laid eyes onto the dragon and he was quick to introduce himself.

“I’m Professor Ono Toriko. It’s a pleasure to meet you, captain Katsuki, Aoba” He greeted and bowed. Yuuri and Aoba bowed, too and Yuuri shook the older man’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Admiral Kitako told me you would be waiting here.” He greeted. It felt strange being called captain, but he knew that he had to get used to it. Aoba also introduced himself.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Can you tell me what breed I am?” He asked and Yuuri threw him a good natured eye-roll.

Professor Ono didn’t seem offended by this direct approach and he made a bow in reply. "I hope I will be able to give you some information. May I ask you to be so kind as to move some distance up the way, perhaps to that tree which you see over there and spread your wings, so we can better see your full conformation?"

Aoba went willingly and Professor Ono observed his motion. "Hm, very odd, not characteristic at all, the way he holds his tail. Katsuki-kun, you say his egg was found in Hasetsu?"

"As to that, I can’t tell you much, I’m afraid," Yuuri answered, studying Aoba's tail. He couldn’t see anything unusual, but of course he had no real basis for comparison. Aoba carried his tail off the ground and it lashed the air gently as he walked. "I found the egg per accident at the beach. The box was probably carried to the shore by the waves and I don’t know how long it was in the water. But could it be long? For then the egg should have not been alive.”

"Oh, that is by no means certain," Professor Ono said. "There are some subspecies which mature in the shell for more than ten years and twenty months is a common average. Good Lord."

Aoba had just spread out his wings. "Yes?" Yuuri asked hopefully.

But as soon as he saw the face of the professor, dread started to rise within him. Because the man was suddenly very pale.

“… Is something the matter?” He asked with a small voice and looked up at him in hesitation.

"Katsuki-kun, my God, those wings," Professor Ono cried and literally ran across the place towards Aoba. 

Yuuri blinked and went after him and caught up to him only by the dragon's side. Professor Ono was gently stroking one of the six spines that divided the sections of Aoba's wings, gazing at it with greedy but at the same time dreadful passion. Aoba had craned his head about to watch, but was keeping otherwise still and didn’t seem to mind having his wing handled.

"Do you recognize him, then?" Yuuri asked Professor Ono meekly, the man looked quite overwhelmed but also a bit afraid.

"Recognize? No, I assure you, I have never seen his kind before. There can scarcely be three living men in Japan who have and on the strength of this one glance I’m already furnished with enough material to address all universities," Professor Ono answered. "But the wings are irrefutable and the number of talons. He is a Chinese Celestial. Oh, Katsuki-kun!"

Yuuri gazed at the wings in confusion. It hadn’t occurred to him before that the fan-like divisions were unusual nor the five talons which Aoba had upon each foot. 

"A Celestial?" he said, with an uncertain smile. He wondered for a moment if the professor was joking. The Chinese had been breeding dragons for thousands of years before most had ever domesticated the wild breeds in the world, they were violently jealous of their work and rarely permitted even grown specimens of minor breeds to leave the country. It was absurd to think that a Celestial egg was just in a box, being washed ashore somewhere.

"Is that a good breed?" Aoba asked. "Will I be able to breathe fire?"

"Dear creature, the very best of all possible breeds," Professor Ono said. "The Chinese breed first for intelligence and grace, they have such overwhelming air superiority they don’t need to seek such abilities in their lines. Indian dragons are far more likely among the Oriental breeds to have any special offensive capabilities. But I heard rumours of a strange ability of the Celestial. If they are true, I don’t know. And I also don’t know what it’s. I know they named it the “Divine Wind”, but as for why, I’m confused. And I don’t even know if it’s true."

"Oh," Aoba said glumly.

"Ao, don’t be ridiculous, it’s the best kind of news anyone could imagine," Yuuri said, beginning to believe at last. This was too far to carry a joke. "You are really certain, professor?" he couldn’t help asking.

"Oh yes," The professor said, returning to his examination of the wings. "Only look at the delicacy of the membrane, the consistency of the colour throughout the body and the coordination between the colour of the eyes and the markings. I should have seen he was a Chinese breed at once, it’s quite impossible that he should have come from the wild and no European or African breeder is capable of such work.” 

"A Celestial," Yuuri murmured, stroking Aoba's side in wonder. "I can’t believe it. They should have put you under watch 24/7 with guards. I can’t imagine what they were thinking in putting you onto the ocean.”

Now the man turned serious again. 

“Katsuki-kun, I hope you know what this means.” He said sternly and Yuuri seemed to shrink in himself. 

“No,” He apologized. “I don’t. Is it bad?”

The man sighed. “The Celestials were companions only for Royals and Imperial families or none at all. And they are nearly extinct. There are maybe a dozen, two dozen left at best and guarded all the time. So precious are they to them. I don’t know how they will react to the news of a mere civilian putting one in harness. If we were a two hundred years in the past, the Chinese would have gone to war with us for that. So we must count ourselves lucky that today they wouldn’t. As to what consequences there are, I don’t know, but I don’t think they can separate you that easily again.”

Yuuri shuddered. He felt suddenly very guilty and confirmed in the assumption that Aoba was way too special and good for him and that he didn’t actually deserve him. He felt miserable.

“I don’t know what they were doing with my egg, but I bet I wouldn’t have liked the person I was destined for, not half as much as my Yuuri. I bet the man would have been very nasty and that’s why I’m so very happy that my Yuuri found me. He is the very best captain and no one would be able to compare! I wouldn’t want anyone else and I will trample everyone who tries to take him away from me,” Aoba suddenly said with such conviction, that Yuuri couldn’t help but gape at him. The creature nosed him gently, clearly trying to cheer him up. 

And he succeeded. For Yuuri didn’t feel guilty at all suddenly and so very glad that he found him. The words did what no one could do when he started. He brought him out of his self-hatred, anxiety and guilt. He smiled softly and stroked his nose, thanking him without words. Aoba nuzzled closer. 

"Perhaps they didn’t know what they had," The professor said, clearly trying to lift the mood, “Chinese eggs are notoriously difficult to categorize by appearance, other than having the texture of fine porcelain. I don’t suppose, by the way, that you have any of the eggshell preserved?" he asked wistfully.

“I think I put them in a bag in my room after he hatched.” Yuuri whispered, remembering his manners, "I would be happy to ask my family to send it to you. I’m deeply indebted to you.”

"Not at all, the debt is entirely on my side. I’m very grateful to be allowed to see one in person.” He answered and bowed to both of them.

Yuuri smiled. Then he asked: “I would be very grateful if you could recommend some texts. I’d be glad of any knowledge of the habits and behaviours of the breed and I don’t know if the internet will help me this time."

"Well, there are precious few resources, I’m afraid. You will shortly be more of an expert than any other in this country, I imagine," Professor Ono said. "But I will certainly give you a list and I have several texts I would be happy to lend you. If Aoba does not mind waiting here, perhaps we can walk back to my hotel and retrieve them. I’m afraid he wouldn’t fit very comfortably in the village."

“I don’t mind at all,” Aoba said, “I see them bringing me some cows and I will just eat supper.”

 

The sky over Ashya was full of low-hanging clouds, pearl grey, mirrored in the black water of a big lake. Spring hadn’t arrived yet, a crust of ice and snow lay over the shore, ripples of yellow s and from an autumn tide still under it. The crisp cold smell of pine and fresh-cut wood rose from the forest. A gravel road wound up from the northern shores of the lake to the complex of the covert and Aoba turned to follow it up the low mountain.

A quadrangle of several large wooden sheds stood together on a level clearing near the top, open in the front and rather like half a stable in appearance, men were working outside on metal and leather, obviously the ground crews, responsible for the maintenance of the aviators' equipment. None of them so much as glanced up at the dragon's shadow crossing over their workplace, as Aoba flew on to the headquarters.

The main building was a Japanese mediaeval kind of fortress, from the time of the samurai, with a high building and stone walls framing an enormous courtyard in the front and a squat, imposing hall that sank directly into the mountaintop and seemed to have grown out of it. The courtyard was almost entirely overrun. A young Regal Copper, twice Aoba's size, sprawled drowsing over the flagstones with a pair of brown- and-purple Winchesters sleeping right on his back. Three mid-sized Yellow Reapers were in a mingled heap on the opposite side of the courtyard, their white-striped sides rising and falling in rhythm.

As Yuuri climbed down, he discovered the reason for the dragons' choice of resting place. The flagstones were warm, as if heated from below and Aoba murmured happily and stretched himself on the stones beside the Yellow Reapers as soon as Yuuri had unloaded him.

A couple of servants had come out to meet him and they took the baggage off his hands. He was directed to the back of the building, through narrow dark corridors, musty smelling, until he came out into another open courtyard that emerged from the mountainside and ended with no railing, dropping off sheer into another ice-strewn valley. Five dragons were in the air, wheeling in graceful formation like a flock of birds; the point-leader was a Longwing, instantly recognizable by the black- and-white ripples bordering its orange-tipped wings, which faded to a dusky blue along their extraordinary length. A couple of Yellow Reapers held the flanking positions and the ends were anchored by a pale greenish Grey Copper to the left and a silver-grey dragon spotted with blue and black patches to the right. Yuuri couldn’t immediately identify its breed.

Though their wings beat in wholly different time, their relative positions hardly changed, until the Longwing's signal-midwingman waved a flag. Then they switched off smoothly as dancers, reversing so the Longwing was flying last. At some other signal which Yuuri didn’t see, they all backwinged at once, performing a perfect loop and coming back into the original formation. He saw at once that the manoeuvre gave the Longwing the greatest sweep over the ground during the pass while retaining the protection of the rest of the wing around it. Naturally it was the greatest offensive threat among the group.

"Naruko, you are still dropping low in the pass. Try changing to a six-beat pattern on the loop." It was the deep resounding voice of a dragon, coming from above. Yuuri turned and saw a golden-hued dragon with the Reaper markings in pale green and the edges of his wings deep orange, perched on an outcropping to the right of the courtyard. He bore no rider and no harness, save, if it could be called so, a broad golden neck-ring studded with rounds of pale green jade stone.

Yuuri stared. Out in the valley, the wing repeated its looping pass. "Better," the dragon called approvingly. Then he turned his head and looked down. "Captain Katsuki?" he said. "Admiral Nowaki said you would be arriving. You come in good time. I’m Akito, training master here." He spread his wings for lift and leapt easily down into the courtyard.

Yuuri bowed mechanically. Akito was a mid-weight dragon, perhaps a quarter of the size of a Regal Copper, smaller even than Aoba's present juvenile size. "Hm," he said, lowering his head to inspect Yuuri closely, the deep green irises of his eyes seemed to turn and contract around the narrowed pupil. The boy felt very inadequate suddenly and tried his best not to squirm and hide his face. "Hm, well, you are a good deal younger than most handlers, but that isn’t so bad considering that we have to catch up with both your and Aoba’s training.”

He lifted his head and called out into the valley again, "Riko, remember to keep your neck straight on the loop." He turned back to Yuuri. "Now then. He has no special offensive capabilities showing, as far as I understand it?”

"No, sir." The answer and the address were automatic. Tone and attitude alike both declared the dragon's rank and surprise helped Yuuri get along with it. "And Professor Ono Toriko, who identified his species, wasn’t sure if he would develop some, though not out of the question - "

"Yes, yes," Akito interrupted. "I’ve read Professor Ono’s work, he is an expert on the Oriental breeds and I would trust his judgment more than my own. It’s a pity, for we could well do with one of those Indian poison-spitters, or waterspout-makers. Now that would be useful against a Korean hwajae deonjyeo. But heavy-combat weight, I understand?"

"He’s currently at nine tons in weight and it’s almost six weeks since he hatched," Yuuri said, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"Good, that’s very good, he should be able to double that," Akito said and he rubbed the side of a claw over his forehead thoughtfully. "So. All is as I had heard. Good. We will be pairing Aoba with Daichi, the Regal Copper currently here in training. The two of them together will serve as a loose backing arc for Riko's formation - that is the Longwing there." He gestured with his head out at the formation wheeling in the valley and Yuuri, still bewildered, turned to watch it for a moment.

The dragon continued, "Of course, I have to see Aoba fly before I can determine the specific course of your training, but I need to finish this session and after a long journey he will not be able to be at full power in any case. Ask Lieutenant Ryota to show you around and tell you where to find the feeding grounds. You will find him in the officers' club. Come back with Aoba tomorrow, at eight in the morning.”

This was a command, an acknowledgment was required. "Yes, sir," Yuuri said, concealing his stiffness in formality. Fortunately, Akito didn’t seem to notice, he was already leaping back up to his higher vantage point.

Yuuri was very glad that he didn’t know where the officers' club was, he felt he could have used a quiet week to get used to his thinking rather than the fifteen minutes it took him to find a servant who could point him in the right direction. Everything which he had ever heard about dragons was turned upside down. That dragons were useless without their handlers, that unharnessed dragons were only good for breeding. He no longer wondered at all the anxiety on the part of the aviators. What would the world think, to know they were trained - given orders - by one of the beasts they supposedly controlled?

Of course, considered rationally, he had long realized that dragons were intelligent and independent after he met Aoba, but these had developed gradually over time and he had unconsciously come to think of Aoba as a fully realized individual without extending the implication to the rest of dragonkind. The first surprise past, he could without too much difficulty accept the idea of a dragon as instructor, but it would certainly create a scandal of extraordinary proportions among those who had no similar personal experience.

Yuuri walked through the archway to the officer’s club and was startled out of his thoughts when he heard loud cheering. Surprised he looked up and saw a group of boys playing football with the furniture shoved to the side. The black haired boy laughed and drew the attention of some. Yuuri, feeling shy at the sudden exposure of attention, just waved weakly, when a young man, probably around twenty, approached him. 

“Lieutenant Ryota Takyua, unassigned.” He greeted. Dark hair, a little bigger than him and broader, an easy smile on his face and overall a nice air around him. “Have you just arrived?”

"Yes. Captain Katsuki Yuuri, on Aoba," Yuuri answered, even though it felt so very odd to call himself a captain and was startled and not a little sad to see the smile fall off Ryota's face, the open friendliness vanishing at once.

"The Celestial!" The cry was almost general and half the boys and men in the room disappeared past them, running towards the courtyard. Yuuri, taken aback, blinked after them.

"Don't worry!" The other young man, coming up to introduce himself, answered his look of alarm. "We all know better than to pester a dragon. They're only going to have a look. Though you might have some trouble with the cadets. We have around two dozen of them here and they make it their mission to plague the life out of everyone. Midwingman Amon Toyo."

"Thank you for the warning. I’ll tell Ao not to mind them," Yuuri said, trying to sound more confident. He was relieved to see no sign of Ryota’s attitude of dislike in Amon's greeting and wished he could ask the friendlier of the two for guidance. However, he didn’t mean to disobey orders, even if given by a dragon, so he turned to Ryota and said formally and with a most steady voice: "Akito tells me to ask you to show me about. Will you be so good?"

"Sure," Ryota said, trying for formality but failing. "Come this way, if you please."

Yuuri was glad when Amon came with them as Ryota led the way upstairs. The midwingman's light conversation, which didn’t falter for an instant, made the atmosphere a lot less uncomfortable. 

"So you are the guy who found the egg floating around in the ocean," Amon said exultantly. "I hear you found a box in the sea and swam a few hundred meters to retrieve it?"

"Oh no, no Nothing so spectacular, really. I’m afraid rumour has exaggerated everything," Yuuri explained. "The box was washed ashore and I was lucky enough to be at the right time at the right place to retrieve the egg."

"Oh! Well, luck is nothing to sneeze at, either. We wouldn’t get very far if luck were against us," Amon said. "Hey, have they put you at the corner? You will have the wind howling at all hours."

Yuuri came into the circular tower room and looked around his new accommodation with pleasure. To him it seemed spacious and the large, curved windows a great luxury. They looked out over the lake, where a thin grey drizzle had started. When he opened them, a cool wet smell came blowing in, not unlike the sea, except for the lack of salt.

His bags were piled a little haphazardly together beside the wardrobe. He looked inside this with some concern, but his things had been put away neatly enough. A writing desk and chair completed the furnishings, beside the plain but ample bed. "It seems perfectly quiet to me. I’m sure I’ll be comfortable.” He said.

"Should I show you to the feeding grounds now?" Ryota said stiffly. It was his first contribution to the conversation since they had left the club.

"Oh, we have to show him the baths first and the dining hall," Amon said. "The baths are something to see," he added to Yuuri. "They were built a long time ago because there’s a natural hot spring here you know and they are why we are all here at all."

"Thank you. I would be glad to see them," Yuuri answered, although he would have been happy to let the obviously unwilling lieutenant escape, he couldn’t say otherwise now without being rude. Ryota might be rude, but Yuuri didn’t intend to stoop to the same behaviour.

They passed the dining hall on the way. Amon, chattering away, told him that the captains and lieutenants ate at the smaller round table, then midwingmen and ensigns at the long rectangle. 

"Thankfully, the cadets come in and eat earlier, for the rest of us would starve if we had to hear them squalling throughout our meals and then the ground crews eat after us," he finished.

"Isn’t it hard to find servants who are not bothered by the dragons?" Yuuri asked. 

"Oh, they’re all born in the villages around here, so they are used to it and us," Amon answered as they walked through the long hall. "I suppose many have been working here since they could walk. They wouldn’t bat an eye at a Regal Copper in a tantrum."

A metal door closed off the stairway leading down to the baths, when Ryota pulled it open, a gust of hot, wet air came out and steamed in the relative cold of the corridor. Yuuri followed the other two down the narrow, spiralling stair. It went down for four turns and opened abruptly into a large bare room with shelves of stone built out of the walls and faded paintings upon the walls, partly chipped away. Obvious relics of the Edo Period. One side held heaps of folded and stacked linens, the other a few piles of discarded clothes.

"Just leave your things on the shelves," Amon said. "The baths are in a circuit, so we come back out here again." He and Ryota were already stripping.

"Do we have time to bathe now?" Yuuri asked in confusion.

Amon paused in taking off his boots. "Oh, I thought we would just stroll through? It’s not as though there is a need to rush. Supper will not be for a few hours yet."

"Unless you have something urgent to attend to," Ryota said to Yuuri, so ungraciously that Amon looked between them in surprise, as if only now noticing the tension.

Yuuri compressed his lips and held back a tremble. He couldn’t be cowering to every aviator who might be hostile to a civil and to some extent he understood the resentment. He would have to fight through it, just like a new midwingman fresh on board. So he beat down the anxiety trying to crawl its way up his throat.

"Not in the least" was all he could press out. Though he was not sure why they had to strip down merely to tour the baths, he never had to at home, and he grew up in an Onsen, he followed their example, save that he arranged his clothes with more care into two neat stacks.

Then they left the room by a corridor to the left and passed through another metal door at its end. He saw the sense in undressing as soon as they were through. The room beyond was so full of steam he could barely see past arm's length and he was dripping wet instantly. On naked skin the steam was luxurious, just shy of being too hot and his muscles unwound gratefully from the long flight.

The room was tiled, with benches built out of the walls at regular intervals. A few other fellows were lying about in the steam. Ryota and Amon nodded to a couple of them as they led the way through and into a big room beyond. This one was even warmer but dry and a long, shallow pool ran very nearly its full length. "We are right under the courtyard now and there is why the Corps has this place," Amon said, pointing.

Deep niches were built into the long wall at regular intervals and a fence of wrought-iron barred them from the rest of the room while leaving them visible. Perhaps half the niches were empty. The other half were padded with fabric and each held a single massive egg. "They must be kept warm, you see, since we can’t spare the dragons to brood over them or let them bury them near volcanoes or something like that, as they would in nature."

"And there is no space to make a separate chamber for them?" Yuuri asked, surprised.

"Of course there’s space," Ryota said rudely. Amon glanced at him and leapt in hastily, before Yuuri could react.

"You see, everyone is in and out of here often, so if one of them begins to look a bit hard we are more likely to notice it. We have cameras installed here, sure, but better save than sorry." He said hurriedly.

Yuuri let Amon’s remark pass, supressed a flinch and nodded to Amon. He had read in Professor Ono’s books how unpredictable dragon egg hatching was until the very end. Even knowing the species could only narrow the process down to a span of months or, for the larger breeds, years.

"We think the Anglewing over there may hatch soon. That’d be amazing," Amon went on, pointing at a golden-brown egg, its sides faintly pearlescent and spotted with flecks of brighter yellow. "That is Hikari's egg. She’s the flag-dragon near Tokyo. I was signal-ensign aboard her, fresh out of training and no beast in her class can touch her for manoeuvring."

Both of the aviators looked at the eggs with wistful expressions, longingly. Of course each of those represented a rare chance of promotion. 

"Have you served with many dragons?" Yuuri asked Amon curiously.

"Only Hikari and then Hirato. He was injured in a fight over the Sea of Japan a month ago and so here I am on the ground," Amon said. "But he will be fit for duty again in a month and I got a promotion out of it, so I shouldn't complain. I was just made midwingman," he added proudly. "And Ryota here has been with more. Four, right? Who before Narumi?"

"Yuki, Oda and Nakazawa," Ryota answered very briefly.

But the first name had been enough. Yuuri finally understood and his face fell. The man likely was a friend of Lieutenant Sakaki. It was now clear to him that Ryota's offensive behaviour was not simply the general resentment of an aviator for a civil forced into his service but personal as well.

Yuuri didn’t want to spend more time and pressed out: "Can we please continue?" He allowed no further delays during the remainder of the tour and let Amon carry the conversation as he would, without giving any response that might draw it out. They came back to the dressing room after completing the circuit of the baths and once dressed again, Yuuri said quietly but firmly: "Ryota-san, you will take me to the feeding grounds now and then you can return." 

He had to make it clear to the man that he didn’t intend to cower. If Ryota were to make another fling, he would have to be checked and better by far were that to occur in private. "Amon-san, I thank you for your tour and your information. They were really valuable.”

"You’re very welcome," Amon said, looking between Yuuri and Ryota uncertainly, as if afraid of what might happen if he left them alone. But Yuuri had made his hint unmistakable and despite the informality and quiet voice, Amon seemed able to see that it had nearly the weight of an order. "I will see you both at supper. Until then."

In silence Yuuri continued with Ryota to the feeding grounds, or rather to a ledge that overlooked them at the far end of the training valley. Yuuri could see several herdsmen there on duty. Ryota explained, in a flat voice, that when signalled from the ledge, they would pick out the appropriate number of beasts for a dragon and send them into the valley, where the dragon could hunt them down and eat, so long as no training flight was in progress.

"It’s easy enough I hope," Ryota said in conclusion. His tone was highly disagreeable and yet another step over the line as Yuuri had feared.

“Are you really not able to separate personal feelings and business?” Yuuri said, his temper breaking loose. He glared savagely at Ryota and felt the colour coming into his face. "I know that I wasn’t born or raised here, I know that I come from outside and that I’m way younger than any other captain ever was and I know that I’m not someone anyone would wish for a captain, but I’m here now and I won’t accept anyone treating me like that. You will amend your address immediately, Lieutenant Ryota, or by God I will have you broken for insubordination. I don’t imagine that the Corps takes things so lightly as one might gather from your behaviour."

Ryota went very pale. The sunburn across his cheeks stood out red. "Yes, sir," he said and stood sharply at attention.

"Dismissed, Lieutenant," Yuuri said and turned away to gaze out over the field until Ryota had left. He didn’t want to even look at the other again. When the anger was gone, he realized that he was tired and miserable to be met with such treatment. He knew there would be consequences to that. When Yuuri decided, that he would be an aviator, he knew that he had to change. A captain couldn’t let anyone treat him like the bullies and he had prepared himself to show more backbone. But it didn’t seem as easy as he imagined and he would have to try and get over his anxiety. And Ryota had seemed on their first instant of meeting friendly and likable by nature. Even if he were not, he was still one of the aviators and Yuuri an outsider. Ryota’s comrades would naturally support him and their hostility could only make Yuuri's circumstances unpleasant.

Yuuri was not looking forward to it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who asked, Aoba's breed is out. =)  
> This will bring a few problems later on and I chose Celestial because I really like this breed and because I wanted Yuuri to have a very special and rare dragon. =)  
> I could have chosen a Kazilisk or the Sui Ryus, but I don't think the Sui Ryu would fit and Kazilisks have a way too big temper. And Celestials are intelligent and curious. So I chose them. =)  
> I hope you liked this chapter and aren't dissapointed at it like me. -.-  
> Well, I'll return to anatomy and physiology now. -.-  
> It's really interesting, but WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO MUCH LEARNING MATERIAL?!?!?!?! T_T  
> I just have this much time until the exam. T_T  
> Anyway, I hope you liked it and I'll return when I crammed the heart, the digestive organs, the lungs and the nerves inside my head. -.-  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =)  
> Until next time. =)  
> Bye =) ^^


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =)  
> Okay, there are several things I want to say and I don't really know where to start.
> 
> First, yes, in the first part of the story many things will remind you of the book, for those who know the series. I'm trying to adjust the story as best as I can to my own characters, to Yuuri and to the modern time, but it's not as easy as it sounds. But I'll try my best in making the story stand alone. There will still be many parts in the first half who will remind you of the book, but I'm going to do my best to change and avoid them. Remember, Yuuri is NOT Laurence. Laurence has years of military experience from Marine to Air Force, is a middle aged man and has been in many battles. Yuuri is ... a bundle full of angst and anxiety, scared of even hurting a fly who was thrown into the military because his closest companion wouldn't be accepted otherwise and he can't bear to part with him. He doesn't know anything, but his affection for Aoba is so deep that he would rather throw himself into war than be separated from him. But he's still 15,a teenager who's actually still in school, in the middle of puperty. So even though there will be scenes similar to the book, I try to picture Yuuri right into it. 
> 
> Second, I'm aware that there are some, who are not interested in the first part and would like me to gloss over this and just do the time skip. I can understand that you would like to read more about the Victuuri part of the story and I assure you that I'm really looking forward to writing it and have the second part already mapped out. But I won't do that because if I would, there woudn't be enough explanation to how Yuuri came to be. Please try to understand what all this means. Yuuri, as in teenage Yuuri, is full of angst, has self-worth problems, is shy and the only thing keeping him going is his love for Aoba and dragons. In the future he's going to be more confident, can look everyone in the eye and stare everyone down if he has to. Why? Because he has to learn how to stand up for the whole military and his own, has to be able to defend his actions in front of the admirality and he has to be able to command a whole crew. Their lifes depend on him, his actions, his commands and his knowledge. So he has to develope the authority. As he is right now, he has none of it. So of course he has to start developing it with time and currently we're at a point where he still can't accept his role. Even though he tells himself that he has to act according to his rank and position, he can't. He's still too shy and he doesn't know anything. He doesn't trust himself and thinks himself unworthy. So he has to develope so much that he can accept the responibility which lays on his shoulders. He has it in him, he really does, but he needs to shovel all his insecurities away first before he can even think about it.
> 
> Third, there is going to be a lot of formation and military stuff in it, where I'm also going to orientate myself to the first book. It's because I'm really bad a fighting scenes and all that stuff but I don't want to gloss it over because it also is a huge part of forming Yuuri's character. All this training and missions and fighting will form him. He'll see wounds, he'll see blood. He'll see friends and comrades hurt, he himself will be hurt. But he has to learn to stand up. If a figure skater injures himself, the medics take him to the hospital. If, in the middle of a battle, someone is injured, they don't have time to do more than trying to stop the bleeding and continue fighting in the hopes of not getting killed. The wounded and the mourning comes after. Yuuri has to learn that. And that's why I need these fighting and training scenes. 
> 
> I hope I didn't insult anyone with any of my explanations and no one is angry at me. If you don't like how I want to expand the first part a bit, feel free to leave. I just thinks it's necessary, but I do understand if you'd rather read about Victuuri. And I can assure you, that this will come. I just hope you'll be staying with me until this comes. =)
> 
> So, I explained enough, let's dive in into the next chapter. This time with a few more introductions. And I apologize in advance, for I looked into the book again for a few pointers. I hope you still have fun. =)

Yuuri walked down the stairs onto the courtyard, hoping to calm down a bit. When he finally laid eyes on Aoba, his mood brightened and he called out to his dragon. When he arrived, he stroked his sides, more to calm himself down that the black creature.

“Sorry for making you wait,” He said, “Were you lonely?”

“No, not at all,” Aoba reassured him, “A lot of people came to talk to me and some came to measure me for my harness. And Daichi talked to me a little. Did you know? We’re going to fly with him and Riko in formation.”

Yuuri looked around in confusion, when he realized, that right there laid a gigantic Regal Copper, lifting his head in greeting before falling back down to the stone. The boy nodded in greeting and returned his attention back to Aoba. 

“Are you hungry? We have to be up early tomorrow for Akito. That’s the training master here,” Yuuri asked. “I don’t think you’ll have enough time tomorrow to eat. So better go now.”

Aoba nodded. He didn’t seem to have a problem with having a dragon master as trainer and Yuuri felt stupid for even being shocked. “Yeah. Food sounds good.”

The boy let himself be carried in Aoba’s claw the very short flight to the feeding grounds and he dismounted when they arrived at the feeding grounds. Even though he still felt sick at watching Aoba tearing cattle, there was still something comforting at watching his dragon soar and dive so gracefully. 

Not much later Aoba landed next to him and the captain asked: “And? You full now?” Aoba nodded. 

“Yes, they were very tasty. But now I’m dirty all over.” He looked at himself in dismay. “Can we wash this off somewhere?”

Yuuri frowned. “There’s the lake. I don’t know if we can bath you there, but I think if someone would have anything against it, they would say so.”

So the dragon waited while his handler walked back to the house, asking a maid for some big towels. When he came back, the black beast waited eagerly for him and after another short flight, Yuuri watched his dragon swimming around happily and scrubbing the worst of the dirt of.

Yuuri frowned and his gaze fell onto the improvised harness. 

“Say Ao,” He asked, “Does this chafe you?” Aoba looked surprised, but shook his head. 

“Not often. And if, I just have to move a little and everything’s alright again. My hide is getting harder everyday after all,” He added proudly, but Yuuri could only shake his head.

“No. Sorry, I shouldn’t have let you wear it for so long. If it restricts you so much I mean.” He said and Aoba looked abashed.

“But isn’t it improper not to wear it? I mean, isn’t it something like your clothes? I don’t want to seem improper.” He asked a little unsure, but Yuuri shook his head.

“No. I’ll think of something. But I don’t want you to suffer for something like that.” He answered.

When they landed in the courtyard again, Yuuri freed him from his harness and Aoba looked around nervously. But the other dragons merely stared at the still wet Aoba curiously and soon as Yuuri wrapped the gold chain around one of his talons, he calmed down and sighed in relief, while the boy dried him with the towels. 

“I didn’t realize how good it felt without it on. Thank you.” He groaned and Yuuri only smiled. But he stroked him in apology, when he saw how the harness galled some of the hide. 

“I’m really sorry. I’ll try to find a cream or something like that for those parts.” He apologized and Aoba nosed him gently.

“I want mine off, too!” chirped one of the Winchesters suddenly and a small dragon jumped from Daichi’s back where it was slumbering and came closer. “Can you please?”

Yuuri hesitated. It was a dragon from someone else and he didn’t know if it would be considered rude to do this.

“I think your own handler should do it,” He tried to explain, but suddenly the dragon seemed sad. 

“I haven’t seen him for a few days now.” He answered and lowered his head, clearly depressed.

Yuuri’s heart seemed to go out on the dragon and he watched closer. His harness didn’t seem so well-cleaned like others and there were a lot of blood streaks on his body.

“Come here, let me take a look at you.” He said and the dragon, who was only a head bigger than him, hopped closer. Yuuri cleaned him with the still wet towels from the lake.

“Thank you so much,” He chirped happily, nuzzling closer into the hand with the towel. “I’m Sousuke.” He added shyly.

“I’m Katsuki Yuuri and this is Aoba,” Yuuri introduced himself with a soft voice. 

"Yuuri is my captain," Aoba said, the smallest hint of belligerence in his tone and an emphasis on the possessive. Yuuri looked up at him in surprise and paused in his cleaning to pat Aoba's side. Aoba subsided, but watched with his pupils narrowed to thin slits while Yuuri finished.

"Should I try and find out what has happened to your handler?" he told Sousuke with a final pat. "Maybe he’s sick, but if so I’m sure he’ll be well soon."

"Oh, I don’t think he’s sick," Sousuke said with that same sadness. "But that feels much better already," he added and rubbed his head gratefully against Yuuri's shoulder.

Aoba gave a low displeased rumble and flexed his talons against the stone. With an alarmed chirp Aoba flew straightaway up to Daichi's back and nestled down small against the other Winchester again. Yuuri turned to Aoba. 

"Come on, what’s with this jealousy?" He asked softly. "Surely you can’t be mad at him for a little cleaning when his handler is neglecting him."

"You are mine," Aoba said stubbornly. After a moment, however, he ducked his head in shame and added in a smaller voice, "He would be easier to clean."

"I wouldn’t give up an inch of your hide even if you were twice Narumi’s size," Yuuri said. “But maybe we can find someone to wash him the next time.”

“Oh, that would be great!” Aboa said, brightening at once. Then he turned thoughtful. “But I can’t understand why his handler is not near him. You would never stay away for so long, would you?”

“Never! Unless they would keep me away by force.” Yuuri confirmed and stroked the hide on his leg. He couldn’t understand it himself. He could imagine that a man, who was tied to a dragon with lesser intelligence wouldn’t necessarily find the creature's company satisfying intellectually, but at the least he would have expected an easy kind of affection at least. And Sousuke didn’t seem stupid or less intelligent at all. Perhaps it wasn’t so strange that there would be less dedicated men among aviator, but with the shortage of dragons, it seemed a great pity to see one of them reduced to unhappiness, which couldn’t help but affect the dragon's performance.

Yuuri carried the harness with him out of the castle yard and over to the large sheds where the ground crews worked. Even though it was late in the day, there were several men still sitting out in front, smoking comfortably. They looked at him curiously, not saluting, but not unfriendly, either. 

"Ah, you’re Aboa’s," one of them said, reaching out to take the harness. "Is it broken? We'll be having a proper harness ready for you in a few days, but we can patch it up in the meantime."

Yuuri bowed and smiled shyly. "No, it just needs cleaning," he said.

"You don’t have a harness-tender right? We can't assign you your ground crew till we know how he's going to be trained," the man said. "But we'll see to it. Tarou, give this a rub, would you?" He called, catching the attention of a younger man who was working on a bit of leatherwork inside.

Tarou came out, wiping grease off onto his apron and took the harness in big, capable-looking hands. "Right. Will he give me any trouble, putting it back on him after?" He asked.

"Oh, that won’t be necessary. He‘s more comfortable without it, you can just leave it beside him," Yuuri said smiling, ignoring the looks they gave him. "And I know this is not my concern, but could you take a look at Sousuke’s harness as well?”

"Sousuke? Well now, I'd say that's for his captain to speak to his crew about," the first man said, sucking on his pipe thoughtfully.

That was perfectly true, nevertheless, it was a lazy answer. Yuuri just frowned and let silence speak for him. The men shifted a little uncomfortably under his silent accusation. He said, very softly, "I know I actually shouldn’t say this, but if you see a dragon in obvious discomfort, shouldn’t you try to help or at least talk to the people responsible for him? I thought you all wanted the well-being of the dragons."

"I'll do it along of dropping off Aoba's," Tarou said hurriedly. "I don't mind, he's so small it won't take me long."

"Thank you, Tarou-san. I’m glad to see you so responsible," Yuuri said, bowed and turned back to the castle. He heard them murmuring behind him. “Strange fellow this kid. I don’t wanna be in this brat’s crew." It wasn’t nice at all. He was conscious, too, of guilt. By speaking so strongly, he had indeed gone over the head of Sousuke's captain and the man would have every right to complain. But Yuuri couldn’t quite bring himself to regret it. Sousuke was clearly neglected and he didn’t like seeing the creature in discomfort. He knew that he was new and shouldn’t step out of line this way, but he just couldn’t ignore a dragon in need, when the situation reminded him of his school days, where everyone looked away at his mistreatment. And he didn’t want to let it slide, even if he really shouldn’t intervene.

Yuuri sighed. His first day had been horrible. He was weary and sad and just wished for the more easy times, when he still went to school and visited Aoba every day in his cave. 

 

The next day Yuuri woke up thanks to his phone’s alarm clock and he stretched, yawning and trying to lose his muscles. He had actually slept quite good, despite it being the first night in a new place, but he had been so tired after yesterday’s events, that he just stumbled to bed and slept. 

This morning however, he realized, that he had a bunch of missed messages from his family and friends. Yuuri answered them shortly, telling them that he arrived safely, that him and Ao were fine and that he looked forward to working with them all (even if this had been a bit of a lie. He wasn’t looking forward to it at all). 

Then he stood in front of his wardrobe and paused. What should he wear? He hadn’t been instructed properly on this after all. After he received his rank as captain, he was given two aviator coats, which was bottle green and reminded him of all the generals he had seen on TV, just with less medals and two gold bars as to identify him in his rank. 

On the other hand, he was still in training and didn’t feel like a military man at all, thinking that he just didn’t fit that role and didn’t deserve to wear it. So should he just dress in normal clothes?

Yuuri sighed, then grabbed a random shirt and vest, convincing himself, that if everyone else was wearing those military clothes, he would just go up after breakfast and change. But for safety’s sake he pinned the two gold bars on them, identifying him in his rank. Just to be sure. For now he would do with what he had. With that he descended to get breakfast. 

The senior officers' table was nearly empty. Ryota was not there but Yuuri felt the effect of his presence in the sideways glances two young men sitting together at the lower end of the table gave him. Nearer the head of the room, a big, thickset man with a robust face and no coat on was eating steadily through a heaped plate of eggs, rice and bacon. Yuuri looked around uncertainly for a sideboard.

"Morning Captain. Coffee or tea?" One of the servants asked him, holding two pots.

"Tea, thank you," Yuuri answered gratefully. He had the cup drained and held out for more before the man even turned away. "Do we serve ourselves?" he asked.

"No, here comes Sakura with eggs and bacon for you. Just mention if you like something else," He said, already moving on.

The maidservant was wearing an apron and she greeted, "Good morning!" cheerfully instead of staying silent, but it was so pleasant to see a friendly face that Yuuri found himself returning the greeting. The plate she was carrying was so hot it steamed and he didn’t care about manners at all once he had tasted the bacon, full of flavour and the yolks of his eggs almost bright orange. He ate quickly, almost bolting his food down.

"Don't choke," said the thickset man, eyeing him. "Miki, more tea," he bellowed, his voice was loud enough to carry through a storm. "You Katsuki?" he demanded as his cup was refilled.

Yuuri finished swallowing and answered meekly, suddenly he didn’t feel confident at all anymore. "Yes, sir,” he mumbled.

"Katashi," the man said. "Look here, what nonsense did you implant in your dragon's head? My Daichi has been muttering all morning about wanting a bath and his harness removed. Absurd stuff."

“I don’t think so, sir, to be concerned with the comfort of my dragon," Yuuri defended himself quietly, his hands tightening on the cutlery.

Katashi glared straight back at him. "Why damn you, are you suggesting I neglect Daichi? No one has ever washed dragons. They don't mind a little dirt, they have hide."

Yuuri swallowed his fear and steeled his resolution. His appetite was gone however and he set down his cutlery. "Maybe he disagrees. I think they should know best what they think they’re comfortable with."

Katashi scowled at him fiercely, then abruptly he snorted. "Well, you are a thickhead, make no mistake and here I thought you civics were all so stiff and cautious-like around here." He drained his teacup and stood up from the table. "I’ll see you later. Akito wants to pace Daichi and Aoba out together." He nodded, apparently in all friendliness and left.

Yuuri was a little dazed by this abrupt reversal. Then he realized he was about to be late and he had no more time to think over the incident. So he sprang up, immediately forgetting that he wanted to know if he should change clothes and ran outside. Well, no one had been commenting on his choice of clothes, so it didn’t seem to matter what he wore.

Aoba was waiting impatiently and now Yuuri found himself paying for his virtue as the harness had to be put back on. Even with the help of two ground crewmen he asked for help, they barely reached the courtyard in time.

Akito was not yet in the courtyard as they landed but only a short while after their arrival, Yuuri saw the training master emerge from one of the openings carved into the cliff wall. Maybe they were private quarters? Perhaps for older or more honoured dragons. Akito shook out his wings and flew over to the courtyard, landing neatly on his rear legs and he looked Aoba over thoroughly. 

"Hm, yes, excellent depth of chest. Inhale, please. Yes, yes." He sat back down on all fours. "Now then. Let’s have a look at you. Two full circuits of the valley, first circuit horizontal turns, then back wing on the second. Go at an easy pace, I want to assess your conformation, not your speed." He made a nudging gesture with his head. Aoba leapt back into the air at full speed. 

"Careful," Yuuri called, tugging at the reins to remind him and Aoba slowed reluctantly to a more moderate pace. He soared easily through the turns and then the loops. 

Akito called out: "Now again, at speed," as they came back around. Yuuri bent low to Aoba's neck as the wings beat with great frantic thrusts about him and the wind whistled at a high pitch past his ears. It was faster than they had ever gone before and just as exciting. He couldn’t resist and gave a small whoop for Aoba's ears only as they went racing into the turn.

The second circuit completed, they winged back towards the courtyard again. Aoba was scarcely breathing fast. But before they crossed half the valley there came a sudden tremendous roaring from overhead and a vast black shadow fell over them. Yuuri looked up in alarm to see Daichi barrelling down towards their path as though he meant to ram them. Aoba jerked to an abrupt stop and hovered in place and Daichi went flying past and swept back up just short of the ground.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing, Katashi-san?!" Yuuri roared at the top of his lungs, standing in the harness. He was furious, his hands shaking but for his grip on the reins. "Explain yourself right now- "

"My God! How can he do that?" Daichi was shouting back at him, conversationally, as though they hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary at all. Daichi was flying sedately back up towards the courtyard. "Akito, do you see that?"

"I do." Akito said, calling out from the courtyard. "They were flying at you on orders, Captain. Don’t be agitated," he said to Yuuri as Aoba landed neatly on the edge. "It’s very important to test the natural reaction of a dragon to being startled from above, where we can’t see. It’s an instinct that often can’t be overcome by any training."

Yuuri was still very upset and Aoba as well. "That was not really nice," he said to Daichi reproachfully.

"Yes, I know, they did the same to me when we started training," Daichi said, cheerful and unrepentant. "How do you just hang in the air like that?"

"I never really thought about it," Aoba answered, a little more appeased. He craned his neck over to examine himself. "I suppose I just beat my wings the other way."

Yuuri stroked Aoba's neck comfortingly as Akito peered closely at Aoba's wing-joints. "I thought it was a common ability, sir. So it’s unusual?" Yuuri asked.

"Only in the sense of it being entirely unique in my two hundred years' experience," Akito said dryly, sitting back. "Anglewings can maneuver in tight circles but not hover in such a manner." He scratched his forehead. "We will have to give some thought to the applications of the ability. At the least it will make you a very deadly bomber."

Yuuri and Katashi were still discussing it as they went in to dinner as well as the approach to matching Aoba and Daichi. Akito had kept them working the rest of the day, exploring Aoba's manoeuvring capabilities and pacing the two dragons against each other. Yuuri had already felt, of course, that Aoba was extraordinarily fast and handy in the air, but it felt really good to hear Akito say so and to have Aoba easily outdistance the older and larger Daichi.

Akito had even suggested they might try and have Aoba fly double-pace if he proved to retain his manoeuvrability even as he grew. That he might be able to fly a strafing run along the length of the entire formation and come back to his position in time to fly a second along with the rest of the dragons.

Katashi and Daichi had taken it in good part to have Aoba fly rings around them. Of course Regal Coppers were the first-rates of the Corps and Aoba would certainly never equal Daichi for sheer weight and power, so there was no real basis for jealousy. Still, after the disaster of his first day, Yuuri was inclined to take an absence of hostility as a victory. Katashi himself was an odd character, a little old to be a new captain and very strange in his manners with a normal state of extreme stolidity broken by occasional explosions.

But in his strange way he seemed to be a steady and dedicated officer and friendly enough. He didn’t blink at the age of Yuuri and really didn’t seem to think of it much. He told Yuuri abruptly, as they sat at the empty table waiting for the other officers to join them: "You will have to face down a damned lot of jealousy of course, for not having to wait at all for such a dragon. I waited six years for Daichi. It was well worth it but I don't know if I would be able not to hate you if you were prancing about in front of me with a Celestial while he was still in the shell."

"Waiting?" Yuuri asked in confusion. "You were assigned to him before he was even hatched?"

"The moment the egg was cool enough to touch," Katashi answered. "We get four or five Regal Coppers in a generation. Aerial Command doesn’t leave it to chance who gets 'em. I was grounded the moment I said yes-thank-you and here I sat staring at him in the shell and lecturing squeakers, hoping he wouldn't take too much bloody time about it, which by God he did." Katashi snorted and drained his glass of wine.

Yuuri had already formed a high opinion of Katashi's skill in the air after their morning's work and he did seem like the sort of man who could be entrusted with a rare and valuable dragon. Certainly he was very fond of Daichi and showed it in a bluff way. As they had parted from Daichi and Aoba in the courtyard, Yuuri had overheard him telling the big dragon: "I suppose I won’t get any peace until you have your harness taken off too, damn you," while ordering his ground crew to do it and Daichi nearly knocking him over with a caressing nudge.

The other officers were beginning to file into the room. Most of them were much younger than Katashi but all at least a bit older than him and the hall quickly grew noisy with their cheerful and often high-pitched voices. Yuuri was a little tense at first but his fears were unfounded. A few more of the lieutenants did look at him dubiously and Ryota sat as far away as possible, but other than this no one seemed to pay him much notice.

"Am I late - oh!" It was a girl, a few years older than him, long black hair in a braid and wearing loose and comfortable clothes. Despite her youth, she was a captain. The coat she wore had the double golden bars across the shoulders.

Yuuri stared at her in confusion. Well, he heard that there were women in the corps, but the idea of it and the reality were still two different things. So he just bowed before returning to his supper, occasionally glancing at her.

She of course saw him and threw him a confused glance, before she finally smiled and introduced herself. “Captain Monoka Yukiko of Riko. Nice to meet you. And you?”

Yuuri was glad that she didn’t seem to be suspicious like others, but still, being confronted with someone from the same rank for the first time still made him anxious. But he still smiled and introduced himself.

“Katsuki Yuuri of Aoba,” He greeted and bowed. She raised her eyebrow and then she seemed to recognize him. 

“Oh! The Celestial!” She said and Yuuri just nodded shyly again. It was still strange for him to realize that such a special dragon had chosen him of all people.

She finally smiled again and sat down next to him, seemingly unconcerned. Yuuri was burning with a question, but he was still too afraid. 

Finally he blurted out: “So you’re the handler of the Longwing?”

"Yes, that is my Riko," she answered, turning to him, an involuntary warmth coming into her voice as she spoke her dragon's name. Then she explained: “Maybe you don’t know this, but Longwings don’t accept male handlers. We don’t know why, but I think I must be grateful for it, because it lead me to my Riko.”

Yuuri stared at her in confusion. He wanted to say something more, but no words came out, so he just nodded. She smiled again at him and turned to her supper. Yuuri did the same, the rest of the evening not uttering a word.

When he was done, he excused himself and went in search for more towels, for he wanted to find Aoba. He knew he would need his company, just so that he could calm down and think about the strange day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we found a few things out. The military is not completely against Yuuri. There are a few grudges, but there are a lot of nice people, too, who welcome Yuuri and just try to make him feel welcome. After all, his dragon is very valuable and they are shunned already, why isolate a captain even more if he's already so alone? =)  
> And we also see, that, unfortunately, not all capatins and handlers are nice. And Aoba is ver jealous and possessive. Later you'll see one reason why, except dragonish possessiveness, as to why he really doesn't like sharing his captain and is so very jealous of everyone getting so much attention. =)  
> And back to the Note in the beginning, Yuuri will need his confidence and self-sureness and his ability in extreme situations for the second part. Because Viktor will suffer a lot and it's up to Yuuri to heal him and throw him back into the right path. Viktor will see what the military really is about, how strong Yuuri is and it will heal and help him. But I won't tell too much. =)  
> I hope you still liked the chapter and will stay with me, even if you don't like this first part. =)  
> Until next time. =)  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =)  
> Bye =) ^^


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =)  
> So I overslept today and slept like 12 hours because my body decided to say fuck you. For those who are interested, I had an exam yesterday and decided to pull an all nighter. So when I finally went to sleep, I slept through over the 3 alarm clocks I set up and woke up pretty late ... which is not something I should when I still have two exams next week. But on the other hand, I'm well-rested ... for the first time in two months or something like that ...  
> Well, I'm still somehow in a good mood, so I decided to upload today. So here we are, the next chapter. =)
> 
> By the way, someone asked for a character guide with all the important dragons and people. So here's a short introduction. =)
> 
> Yuuri's Formation:
> 
> Captain Katsuki Yuuri, Dragon: Aoba (Celestial, Heavy Weight)  
> Captain Katashi Hotaka, Dragon: Daichi (Regal Copper, Heavy weight)  
> Captain Monoka Yukiko (Future Formation Leader for her Dragon will lead the Formation), Dragon: Riko (Longwing, Heavy Weight, Acid Spitter)  
> More of the Formation will be introduced later when they join
> 
> Other important people & dragons: 
> 
> Admiral Nakama, Dragon: Narumi (Regal Copper, Heavy Weight)  
> Lieutnant Ryota Takuya  
> Training Master Akito (Malachite Reaper, Middle Weight)  
> Midwingman Amon Toyo  
> Sousuke (Winchester, Light Weight, Courier Dragon)  
> Ground Man Tarou
> 
> That was the first part. =)  
> I'm going to update it with time when more important characters appear. =)  
> I hope this helped you a bit. =)  
> So let's dive right into it. =D  
> But I do have to admit, I didn't really like this chapter as much as I would have liked. -.-  
> But I do hope you'll like it. =)

Yuuri came out into the courtyard and was met by a scene of loud activity. A great confusion of wings and dragon voices filling the air. Most, if not all of the dragons had just come from feeding and were now being attended by members of their crews, who were busy cleaning the harnesses. Yuuri couldn’t see a dragon whose captain was not standing by its head and petting or talking to it. This evidently was a common interlude during the day when dragons and their handlers finally had free time.

He didn’t immediately find Aoba. After searching the busy courtyard for a few moments, he realized that Aoba had settled outside the exterior walls, likely to avoid the bustle and noise. 

Yuuri began to wove through the other dragons and made his way out of the gate. He stopped short on his first clear look at Aoba. The dragon looked strangely downcast, a marked difference from his happy attitude at the conclusion of the morning's work and Yuuri hurried to his side. "Are you alright?" Yuuri asked, inspecting his jaws, but Aoba was blood-stained and messy from his meal and he seemed like to have eaten enough. "Did you have problems with eating?"

"No, I’m alright," Aoba said. "It’s only - Yuuri, I’m a proper dragon, am I not?"

Yuuri stared. The note of uncertainty in Aoba's voice was completely new. "As proper a dragon as can be. What the hell would make you ask that? Has anyone said something mean to you?" A quick surge of protectiveness was rising in him already at the mere possibility. The aviators could look down at him and say what they wanted but he was not going to tolerate anyone making remarks to Aoba.

"Oh, no," Aoba said, but in a way that made Yuuri doubt the words. "No one was unkind but they couldn’t help noticing, while we were all feeding, that I don’t look like the rest of them. They are all much more brightly coloured than I am and their wings don’t have so many joins. Also, they have those ridges along their backs and mine is plain and I have more talons on my feet." He turned and inspected himself as he catalogued these differences. "So they looked at me a little oddly but no one was unkind. I suppose it’s because I’m a Chinese dragon?"

"Yeah, it is. But remember that the Chinese are counted the most skilled breeders in the world," Yuuri said firmly. "If anything, the others should look to you as their ideal, not the reverse and please, don’t doubt yourself for one moment. Remember how Akito praised your flying this morning."

"But I can’t breathe fire or spit acid," Aoba countered, settling back down, still with an air of dejection. "And I’m not as big as Daichi." He was quiet for a moment, then added, "He and Riko ate first. The rest of us had to wait until after they were done and then we were allowed to hunt as a group."

Yuuri frowned. He didn’t know dragons would have a system of rank among themselves. "Ao, there has never been a dragon of your breed in Japan, so your rank hasn’t been established," he said, trying to find an explanation which would console Aoba. "Also, maybe it’s got something to do with the rank of the captains? Remember that I’m practically under everyone. But I’m sure that when we have been in service a year or two, you’ll be acknowledged as you deserve. But for the moment, did you get enough to eat? We’ll return to the feeding grounds right now if not."

"Oh, no, there was enough," Aoba said. "I was able to catch whatever I wanted and the others didn’t get in my way very much."

He fell silent and Yuuri, not knowing what else he should say, said: "Come, let’s get you cleaned up."

Aoba brightened at the prospect and after playing in the water and being scrubbed clean by Yuuri, his spirits were greatly restored. Afterwards, he curled happily around his captain in the warm courtyard when they settled down together to read, apparently much happier. But Yuuri still saw Aoba looking at his gold- and-pearl chain more often and touching it with the tip of his tongue. He was beginning to recognize the gesture as a desire for reassurance. He tried to put affection in his voice as he read and stroked the foreleg on which he was comfortably seated.

After a while, he knew he had to do something else to comfort him. So he closed the book and opened his mouth. 

“Ao?” He started, catching the dragon’s attention, “You know, I can really understand your fear of not fitting in. I’m the same after all.” He admitted, staring at his fingers. 

“What do you mean?” The dragon asked and Yuuri smiled kindly upon him.

“What I mean is,” He explained, “That I’m as much afraid in fitting in this whole mess as you, if not more so.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m way younger than other captains and, different from them, I also don’t have any kind of training. I don’t know how to fight, I never had a gun or a weapon in my hand if you don’t count the kitchen knives and I was always a coward, even in school.”

Aoba cuddled closer, nuzzling him and listening. It was kind of easy to finally admit all his fears. So he smiled and continued. “You said that you are unsure of himself because you look different and I told you that you shouldn’t mind them. And I really mean it. But the truth is I’ve been there before. I know how it’s like to not fit in.” He chuckled bitterly. “But I also know that you are strong and intelligent and if anyone would hurt you, you could defend yourself pretty good. I have always been weak, so I couldn’t. I couldn’t prove myself in school and that was why I was shunned.”

Aoba could taste the dark mood and that was why he crooned and curled himself around Yuuri more closely and put his head on his shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up. Yuuri smiled and stroked his snout.

“What happened?” The dragon asked with a small voice and Yuuri sighed. 

He explained: “I started ballet and figure skating when I was still young. I love dancing and everything that comes with it. But,” He shrugged his shoulders, his gaze dropped, “Dancing, especially ballet, is something considered only girls do. So I was frowned upon and looked down to because I like it so much. I never stopped of course, but that was one of the main reasons why the bullies picked at me. They didn’t like seeing a boy doing girly things, so they tried to hurt me.”

Aoba suddenly snarled viciously. Yuuri, confused by all this, looked up and stared at his dragon, who didn’t seem happy at all. “Ao?” He asked timidly, while his dragon clawed at the ground.

“Where are they? Who was it that hurt you? I’m going to kill them all!” He hissed in clear outrage. Yuuri could feel the muscles under him clench and the tremors running through his body. 

“Calm down! It’s over! They’re not here anymore!” Yuuri tried to reassure him and it took a lot longer until Aoba settled back again, curling around Yuuri possessively and hiding him from any and all sight. The boy chuckled.

“If any of them hurt you here, you just have to say the word and I’m going to deal with them,” Aoba proclaimed, but Yuuri just shook his head.

“Don’t worry. Most of them have all been really nice to me and even if, I can deal with a little backtalk. I’m not that helpless.” He said and patted his long neck. “But if something should really happen, then you’ll be the first to know.” He added and Aoba seemed to be satisfied with it. 

After a few minutes of companionable silence, Aoba suddenly asked: “Yuuri? Do you really dance?” 

The boy, confused with the question, looked up. “Yeah. Since I was a child. Why?”

Eagerness filled his voice, as the dragon answered: “I don’t know why only girls should dance, but if you can, can you show me? I bet you are really good at it. Please?”

Yuuri, taken aback by this request, answered: “Well, I can dance, yes, but I’m not really good. Before I found you I was hitting a dead end and knew that I wouldn’t be able to get much better than that. So I’m mediocre at best. You can’t expect much from me.” But the dragon wouldn’t be swayed.

“I bet you’re really wonderful! I really want to see you dance!” He said and looked at his aviator expectantly.

Yuuri finally grinned and nodded. “Okay. When we have more time and are not training and if I’m not too tired, I’m sure I could show you something.”

Aoba cheered and nuzzled the boy happily and Yuuri laughed. After their talk they read together a bit more until it was late and Yuuri walked back to his room. There he changed clothes and fell into his bed, sleeping soundly in mere seconds.

 

Yuuri and Katashi started to meet at breakfast and training every day and he found out that the older captain was a sharp-witted airman and aerial tactician and the boy gave his best to learn as much as possible from him. Even though he started to thaw, he was still unsure about the older captain. But so far they had known each other only for a few days and there would be time enough to take a better measure of the man's real character.

Until now he hadn’t been able to meet captain Monoka and he saw her almost only at a distance, though Aoba was soon to be flying in company with her dragon, Riko. One morning however she was at table when he arrived for breakfast, she was already sitting there. Because he didn’t know where else to sit, he moved to her table. She smiled and engaged him in light conversation. Yuuri, shy as he was, only answered in short sentences and small smiles. 

Finally she admitted to him why she gave her dragon her name. “Riko wasn’t expected to hatch for another five years at the earliest and I hadn’t thought of a name. When her egg hardened, they woke me in the middle of the night at the covert in Nagasaki, flung me on a Winchester and I barely managed to reach the baths before she broke the shell. I simply gaped when she invited me to give her a name and I couldn’t think of anything else."

Yuuri smiled and answered. “With me it was the same, more or less. I didn’t expect Ao to hatch and when he sat in front of me, I somehow realized how blue his eyes were and he reminded me a little of a falling leaf. So I combined it.”

“It’s a beautiful name,” She said and grinned. The boy returned it. 

The training until now was still more a matter of testing Aoba's flying abilities and seeing how best he and Daichi could be worked into the formation centered on Riko. Akito had them fly endless circuits around the training valley, sometimes trying to minimize the number of wingbeats, sometimes trying to maximize their speed and always trying to keep them in line with one another. One memorable morning was spent almost entirely upside down and Yuuri found himself dizzy and red-faced at the end of it. The stouter Katashi was huffing as he staggered off Daichi's back after the final pass and Yuuri leapt forward to steady him as his legs gave out from under him.

Daichi hovered anxiously over Katashi and rumbled in distress. "Stop that moaning, Daichi. Nothing more ridiculous than a creature of your size behaving like a mother hen," Katashi yelled as he fell into the chair that the servants had hurriedly brought. "Ah, thank you," he said, taking the glass of water Yuuri offered him and sipped at it.

"I’m sorry to have put you under such a strain," Akito said, when Katashi was no longer gasping and scarlet. "Normally these trials would be spread over half a month's time. Perhaps I’m pressing too much.”

"Nonsense, I’ll be okay in a minute," Katashi said at once. "I know damned well we cannot spare a moment, Akito, so don’t hold back on my account."

"Yuuri, why are matters so urgent?" Aoba asked that evening after dinner, as they once again settled down together outside the courtyard walls to read. "Is there a great battle which we’ll be needed for?”

Yuuri folded the book closed, keeping his place with a finger. "No. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we’re too raw to be sent directly into a major action. From what I know is that there are a lot of tensions going on with North Korea and our Longwing formations will be needed to protect the borders. Our duty will be to take their place, so they can go.”

"That doesn’t sound very exciting," Aoba said. "But maybe North Korea will invade us and then we’ll have to fight?" He sounded rather more hopeful than anything else.

"We have to hope not," Yuuri said. "If we can keep their air force and fleet at bay, they won’t be able to bring their army across. Though I have heard he has something like a thousand boats to carry his men. But I don’t really know if they’re real or just some exaggerated rumours."

Aoba sighed and put his head down over his forelegs. "Oh," he said.

Yuuri laughed and stroked his nose. "How bloodthirsty you are," he said with amusement. "Don’t worry. I promise you we will see enough action when your training is done. There is a great deal of fighting over the Sea of Japan, for one thing and then we may be sent in support of a naval operation or even sent to harass the North Korean shipping independently." This heartened Aoba greatly and he turned his attention to the book with restored good humour.

But Yuuri wasn’t happy at all actually. Even though he said those to Aoba to calm and motivate him, he wasn’t looking forward to the fighting at all. He was actually afraid. The boy had never been involved in fighting and he was afraid that he would mess up and bring everyone down. But he tried to supress those thoughts as best as possible. 

Friday they spent in an endurance trial, trying to see how long both dragons could stay aloft. The formation's slowest members would be the two Yellow Reapers, so both Aoba and Daichi had to be kept to that slower pace for the test and they went around and around the training valley in an endless circle, while above them the rest of the formation performed a drill under Akito's supervision.

A steady rain blurred all the landscape below into a grey monotony and made the task even more boring. Aoba often turned his head to ask, a little plaintively, how long he had been flying and Yuuri was generally obliged to inform him that not even a quarter of an hour had passed since the last query. Yuuri at least could watch the formation wheeling and diving, their bright colours marked against the pale grey sky. Poor Aoba had to keep his head straight and level to maintain the best flying posture.

After perhaps three hours, Daichi began to fall off the pace, his great wings beating more slowly and his head drooping. Katashi took him back in and Aoba was left all alone, still going around. The rest of the formation came spiralling down to l and in the courtyard and Yuuri saw the dragons nodding to Daichi, inclining their heads respectfully. At this distance he couldn’t make out any words, but it was clear they were all conversing easily among themselves while their captains milled about and Akito gathered them together to review their performance. Aoba saw them as well and sighed a little, though he said nothing. Yuuri leaned forward and stroked his neck in an attempt to comfort him, thinking of a way to cheer him up. 

 

Yuuri was surprised when he one evening got a message from his parents that he should check his bank account. Surprised he did as he was told and almost fell down his chair when he saw all the numbers. The boy could only gape when he stared at the screen of his laptop. 

When Yuuri asked his parents if they knew where that money came from, they shook their head, clearly as confused as he was. Yuuri was almost certain that the money was a misunderstanding and someone transferred this money wrong. 

As he saw that the sender was one from the military, he wrote them an e-mail, asking them about it. On the same day he got an answer. It said that he shouldn’t act so foolishly and that the money was his prize money for finding the dragon and that from now on he would also get his own salary. Yuuri was really confused. 

But he realized that this money was actually because of Aoba and as Yuuri couldn’t just open a new bank account for his dragon, he decided to maybe give him a present. As thanks for staying with him and being such a good friend and maybe something to cheer him up.

So soon he was browsing through the internet, searching for a gift for a dragon and was surprised when he realized that there was a jeweller in the town next to the covert, selling trinkets and gifts for dragons. Yuuri clicked through the different pictures of the jewellery and not only sometimes really had to choke. Even though he had enough money, those were still very pricey. But then he remembered that he got this money thanks to Aoba anyway, so he could really spend it for him. 

 

The next day he walked to Akito and asked, if he could go to the town for one day, as the harness was still not done and they would need a whole day anyway to fit it. Akito, surprised as he was, nodded finally and Yuuri was busy with measuring his dragons neck and even Daichi’s, to maybe have a reference as to how much Aoba will still be growing, as he got bigger every day. The boy told Aoba that it was for the harness, as he wanted to make it a surprise. 

Yuuri had a collection already of which he would like for his dragon and downloaded them onto his phone. When he skyped his sister and told her of this idea, she laughed, but gave his opinion on which one she liked best. 

In the end Yuuri said his goodbye to Aoba on Saturday and told him to complain at once to the board crew if there was something wrong with his harness and not hesitate at all. The dragon just nodded and nosed his captain happily and Yuuri took the bus to the next town. There he looked around in amazement and thought silently to himself that Aoba would probably steal everything if he could.

In the end he settled on a broad pendant of platinum almost like a breastplate, set with pearls surrounding a big sapphire. The deep blue colour reminded him of his dear dragon’s eyes and he couldn’t help but think that blue was really a wonderful colour on him. The piece was designed to fasten about the dragon's neck with a chain that could be extended as Aoba grew. The price was enough to make him swallow, but he recklessly bought it anyways.

He was a little paranoid when he put it in his backpack, but he ignored his anxiousness and wandered into the next book shop, where he bought a lot of books for Aoba and him to read, classical literature, modern literature to science and philosophy. Before Aba he would have never thought in reading it, but somehow it was fun doing it with him. 

When he passed a shop, he stopped abruptly. There in the window was a TV, showing last year’s Worlds competition and Viktor Nikiforov’s short program. Yuuri would know, he watched it over and over until he could copy it without problems. 

There was a pang in his chest, a reminder that he chose a future without Figure Skating, that he forfeited his chance at ever meeting Viktor. But somehow, it didn’t hurt much at all. When he thought about it, he didn’t feel empty or sad that he would never be on the same ice at him. To be honest, the last weeks he hadn’t thought about Viktor or Skating at all! Before Aoba he had thought about almost nothing else, just skating and dancing. There wasn’t much time for something else in his head. But since he got Aoba, he had been way too busy with his companion’s education and his own training to even think of something else. And he realized that he didn’t miss it at all. Before he thought that not being able to skate would mean that there wasn’t anything for him. But that wasn’t the case. With Aoba he felt a deep bond and he felt satisfied. The pain and hollowness in his chest had vanished. He felt whole. 

But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t surprised when he realized that he completely forgot worlds! And it was this close, too! Even though he didn’t care about being a Figure Skater himself anymore, it didn’t mean that he still didn’t was a fan! He very much liked watching skating and very much liked watching Viktor! But to be so immersed with training that he completely forgot when the big competition was? That was a really strange feeling. 

 

Aoba's new harness was neatly assembled upon a couple of benches by the side of the courtyard, the broad neck-brace marked with his name in silver rivets. Aoba himself was sitting outside again, looking over the quiet lake valley that was gradually fading into shadow as the late-afternoon sun sank down, his eyes thoughtful and a little sad. Yuuri went to his side immediately, carrying the heavy packages.

Aoba's joy in the pendant was so great as to rescue Yuuri from his confused feelings from finding out about him forgetting about Viktor. The silver metal looked dazzling against his black hide and once it was on, he tilted the piece up with a forehand to look at the great sapphire in enormous satisfaction, his pupils widening tremendously so he could better examine it. "I really like Sapphires, Yuuri," he said, nuzzling at him gratefully. "It’s so beautiful! But was it not really expensive?"

"It’s worth everything when I see you with it," Yuuri said, meaning that it was worth every bit to see him so happy. "I actually got the money because I found your egg, you know? So I’m actually not lacking anything."

"Well, that was none of my doing, although I’m very glad it happened," Aoba said. "I’m sure I couldn’t have liked any other captain half as much as you. Oh, Yuuri, I’m so happy and none of the others have anything nearly so nice." He cuddled himself around Yuuri with a deep sigh of satisfaction.

Yuuri climbed into the crook of one foreleg and sat there petting him and enjoying his continued quiet gloating over the pendant. Of course, if he wouldn’t have found the egg, who knows who would? Yuuri had previously not thought to what might have been. 

He looked up at his preening dragon and felt the rest of his sorrow and anxiety leave him. Whatever else happened, he could hardly complain of the turn fate had served him. "I brought you some books as well," he said. "Should I begin on Einstein for you? I’ve found a translation of his book on the ‘Electrodynamics of moving Celestial Bodies’, although I’ll warn you now that I probably won’t understand anything at all what it says. Physics was never my strong point and this stuff is, as far as I remember, college stuff. "

"Please do," Aoba said, looking away from his new treasure for a moment. "I’m sure we ‘ll be able to puzzle it out together, whatever it is."

Yuuri laughed and started. And as he expected, he understood … nothing. But when he saw how happy his dragon was and how eager he was at explaining and he had to admit, it wasn’t so hard once someone understood the principles, it was just very confusing in the beginning, he couldn’t be angry at all.

Sometime later they stopped and Yuuri asked: “Ao? Would you like to watch Worlds with me next month?” 

The creature was confused and Yuuri had to explain to him again what Figure Skating was, who Viktor Nikiforov was and what exactly they were doing. As with everything new Aoba latched onto every bit of information and asked and asked and asked. He was especially eager when he realized, that his aviator was a big fan and very fond of the sport.

So Yuuri spend the rest of the night explaining the score system, the different components, the jumps and everything else which came with figure skating. The captain was happy in indulging his dear friend and answering every question he had. 

“But why are there different points for the jumps when they all have the same type of rotations?” Aoba asked again and Yuuri explained patiently again that every jump was different and some more complicated and harder to land and that was the reason why there were different points. 

“Also,” he added, “An axel is a jump with a forward take off. Compared to other common figure skating jumps, an axel has an extra half rotation in the air because of its forward take off. Most skaters perform the jump with counter clockwise rotation, taking off from the left forward outside edge and landing on the right back outside edge. That means that there are two and a half jumps in a double axel and three and a half jumps in a triple axel. There had never been a person who did a quadruple axel before as far as I know. So this jump is one of the more complicated ones and has more than just two or three rotations.”

Aoba nodded in understanding. “So it’s a complicated sport?”

Yuuri laughed and nodded. They spent the rest of the evening in comfortable talks about Figure Skating until Yuuri had to go back. As soon as he hit his bed, he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm, as I thought, it's not really what I would have liked ... -.-  
> But I hope you liked it more than I did. =)  
> Next chapter: First battle action and Yuuri's first mental challenge. =)  
> I'm going to return to studying now. -.-  
> Anatomy and Terminology are so hard. -.-  
> So next week are my last exams for this semester and I'm finally able to breath (and sleep!!!!!!!!!!) again. =D  
> And that means that I have more time to write. =D  
> ... well, I do have to consider how my time table will look like, but still!!! No more exams for at least a month!!!  
> So I'm going to give everything for these last two exams. So don't expect another update for any of my fics until thursday or friday. =)  
> Until then. =)  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =D  
> Bye. =D ^^


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =D  
> Guess what? I'M DONE WITH EXAMS FOR THIS SEMESTER!!!!!!!!!!!! =D =D =D  
> I'm so happy!!!!! I still don' have the results from a few, but at least I don't have to kill myself over studying anymore. At least for around a month, before I have to prepare for my next ones. =D =D =D  
> But I'm so glad. =D  
> Today I had a meeting with my professor in the morning, but after that I was free. =D  
> I almost cried. =)  
> Anyway, so that's why you're getting a new chapter today because I felt so good about the thought of not having to see the library for a whole month. =D
> 
> So, before we dive into the chapter, here a quick update to people guide. =)
> 
> Yuuri's Formation:
> 
> Captain Katsuki Yuuri, Dragon: Aoba (Celestial, Heavy Weight)  
> Captain Katashi Hotaka, Dragon: Daichi (Regal Copper, Heavy weight)  
> Captain Monoka Yukiko (Future Formation Leader for her Dragon will lead the Formation), Dragon: Riko (Longwing, Heavy Weight, Acid Spitter)  
> More of the Formation will be introduced later when they join
> 
> Yuuri's and Aoba's Crew (There are actually more, but they are unimportant and won't be mentioned here. And even most of them aren't that important, but I'm gonna mention them anyway.):
> 
> 1\. Lieutnant: Ryota Takuya  
> 2\. Lieutnant: Seiichi  
> 3\. Lieutnant and head of the riflemen and gunner: Kazu  
> Ground Crew Head: Tarou  
> Armorer: Aki  
> Leatherworker: Chiko  
> Gunner: Arata  
> Harness Master: Fukita  
> Midwingmen: Amon, Fudo, Goro, Jiro  
> Ensign: Toyo
> 
> Other Important people and dragons in this chapter:  
> Training Master Akito (Malachite Reaper, Middle Weight)  
> Dragon: Shori (Parnassian, something between Middle Weight and Heavy Weight)  
> Captain Shun (Actually Courier), Dragon: Shouta (Grey Copper, Light Weight)
> 
> And now, have fun. =)

The easy days were over now. Akito had proclaimed that he understood Aoba's flying capabilities and now that Aoba had his new harness, their training began for real. From the beginning Yuuri staggered to bed right after supper and it took several alarm clocks and sometimes the servants to wake him up. He could barely remember any conversation held over dinner and he spent every free moment either dozing with Aoba in the sun or soaking in the heat of the baths. In the mornings he barely followed the lessons held for the younger officers. From the rank he was the highest, but if one didn’t count on it, they were all the same age and would be in high school. So he was obliged to join them in their class. 

Akito was merciless and tireless both. There were countless repetitions of this wheeling turn or that pattern of swoops and dives, then flying short bombing runs at top speed, during which the bellmen hurled practice bombs down at targets on the valley floor. Long hours of gunnery-practice, until Aoba could hear a full volley of eight rifles go off behind his ears without so much as blinking. Crew manoeuvres and drills until he no longer twitched when he was clambered upon or his harness shifted. And to close every day's work, another long stretch of endurance training, sending him around and around until he had nearly doubled the amount of time he could spend aloft at his quickest pace. Yuuri himself had many problems in the beginning because of his first time holding a gun. But he started to get used to it and he realized that he was not so bad like he thought and his aim improved soon. Then he learned self-defence and knife work with others and he soon realized that he had quite the talent with everything sharp.

Even while Aoba was sprawled panting in the training courtyard and getting his breath back, the training master had Yuuri practice moving in the harness both on Aoba's back and upon rings hung over the cliff wall, to increase his skill at a task that other aviators had been doing from their earliest years in the service. His hands slipped free constantly during the first week and without the paired carabineers he would have plummeted to his death a dozen times over. Here he was glad for the first time that he had been doing ballet and skating for so long. Keeping the balance wasn’t so hard as he thought and he soon was at the level than most others his age.

But as soon as they were released from the day's flight training, they were handed straight over to an old captain, Takashi, for drilling in aerial signalling. In the best case one would use wireless devices, but more often than not they could get lost or destroyed in the middle of an operation and thus they still had to rely on those. The flag and flare signals for communicating general instructions were many and the most basic gave Yuuri no difficulty. But the need to coordinate quickly between dragons in mid-air gave them many more to work with. As a result, there was a vastly longer list of signals, some requiring as many as six flags and all of these had to be beaten into their heads, for a captain couldn’t rely solely upon his signal-officer. A signal seen and acted upon even a moment more quickly might make a difference like heaven and hell, so both captain and dragon had to know them all. The signal-officer was merely a safeguard and his duty more to send signals for Yuuri and call his attention to new signals in battle than to be the sole source of translation.

To Yuuri's embarrassment, Aoba proved to learn the signals faster than himself. Even Takashi was more than a little taken aback at the dragon's ability. "And he’s old in learning them," he told Yuuri. "Usually we start them on the flags the very day after hatching. I didn’t want to say so before, to not be discouraging, but I expected him to have a lot of trouble. If a dragonet is a bit slow and doesn’t learn all the signals by the end of their fifth or sixth week, he struggles with the last ones badly. But Aoba is already older than that and learning as fast as a hatchling."

But even though Aoba had no problems, the effort of memorization and repetition was still as tiring as their more physical duties. Four weeks of rigorous work passed without even a break. They progressed together with Daichi and Katashi through the increasingly complex manoeuvres that had to be learned before they could join the formation and all the time the dragons were growing enormously. By the end of this period, Daichi had almost reached his full adult size and Aoba was barely two meters smaller in size, though much leaner and his growth was now mostly in bulk and in his wings rather than his height.

He was beautifully proportionate throughout. His tail was long and very graceful, his wings fit elegantly against his body and looked precisely the right size when fanned out. His colours had intensified, the black hide turning hard and glossy save for the soft nose and the blue and pale grey markings on the edges of his wings spreading and becoming opalescent. To Yuuri's partial eye, he was the most beautiful dragon in the entire covert, even without the great shining sapphire glimmering upon his chest.

The constant occupation, along with the rapid growth, had at least temporarily eased Aoba's unhappiness. He was now larger than any of the other dragons but Daichi. Even Riko was shorter than he was, though her wingspan was still greater. Though Aoba didn’t push himself forward and wasn’t given precedence by the feeders, Yuuri saw on the occasions when he observed that most of the other dragons unconsciously let him first at feeding times and if Aoba didn’t seem to be friendly with any of them, he seemed too busy to pay it mind, much as Yuuri himself with the other aviators.

For the most part, they were company enough for each other. They were rarely apart except while eating or sleeping and Yuuri honestly felt little need of other society. He had never been really social anyway, so that didn’t change much. His and Aoba's acquaintance with Daichi and Katashi progressed at least, which kept them from being wholly isolated from their comrades, though Aoba continued to prefer sleeping outside on the grounds rather than in the courtyard with the other dragons.

They had already been assigned Aoba's ground crew. Besides Tarou as the head, Aki and Chiko, armorer and leatherworker respectively, formed the core, along with the gunner Arata. Many dragons had just that much. But as Aoba continued to grow, the masters were somewhat grudgingly granted assistants. First one and then a second for each until Aoba's team were only a few men short of Daichi's. The harness-master's name was Fukita. He was a silent but dependable man, with around ten years of experience in his line and really skilful at coaxing additional men out of the Corps. He managed to get Yuuri eight harness-men. They were badly wanted as Yuuri persisted in having Aoba out of the gear whenever possible. He needed the full harness put on and off far more often than most dragons.

Half of his riflemen were completely raw midwingmen who had barely learned which end of a gun to hold (not that he was any better). However, they seemed willing enough and were improving quickly. Fudo was overeager but had a good eye and if Goro and Jiro still had some difficulty in finding the target, they were at least quick in reloading. Their lieutenant, Kazu, was unfortunately not what he would have liked. Short-tempered and excitable, given to screaming at small mistakes. He knew his work, but Yuuri would have preferred a steadier and calmer man to guide the others. But he didn’t have free choice of men. Kazu had seniority and had served with honour, so at least deserved his position.

The permanent aerial crew, the topmen and bellmen responsible for managing Aoba's equipage during flight and the senior officers and lookouts, were not yet settled. Most of the currently unassigned junior officers at the covert would first be given a chance to take positions upon Aoba during the course of his training before final assignment was made. Akito had explained that this was a common technique used to ensure that the aviators practiced handling as many types of dragon as possible, as the techniques varied greatly depending on the breed. Amon had done well and Yuuri had hopes that he might be able to get the midwingman as a permanent member. 

The only matter of real concern to him was the question of his first lieutenant. He had been disappointed in the first three candidates assigned him. All were good, but none of them struck him as gifted and he was picky for Aoba's sake, even if he wouldn’t have cared if it was just himself. More unpleasantly, Ryota had just been assigned in his turn and though the lieutenant was executing his duties in perfect order, he was always addressing Yuuri as "sir" and exaggerated greatly in accepting orders. It was an obvious contrast with the behaviour of the other officers and made them all uneasy. 

As if Yuuri hadn’t it hard enough already coming to terms with being a captain and leading people. He had to more often than not force himself to speak out more loudly than he would have liked, more confident than he normally was and do his best as to not flinch from the bellowing of his men. And it was always hard to endure the strange looks he received when he gave an order. He could understand. If he were any of them, he wouldn’t have liked the thought of having to listen to a boy sometimes half his age either. He would be disgruntled, too. But as he was indeed a captain, regardless of the circumstances, he had the higher rank and was obliged to give orders. … And being responsible of their lives. Great. As if he didn’t have enough pressure and enough cause for his anxiousness already. 

That aside, he was satisfied, though increasingly eager to be done with manoeuvre drills. Fortunately Akito had pronounced Aoba and Daichi almost ready to join the formation. There were only the last complex manoeuvres to be mastered, those flown entirely upside down. The two dragons were in the midst of practicing one day when Aoba noted to Yuuri: "There’s a dragon coming towards us," and Yuuri lifted his head to see a small grey speck winging its way rapidly to the covert.

The pale grey dragon with mottled white markings upon its belly and white striations across its wings, almost invisible against the cloud cover, sailed directly down and landed in the training courtyard, a violation of the covert rules when a practice was in session and a captain, the same age as Yuuri, leapt off his dragon's back to talk to Akito. Interested, Aoba righted himself and stopped in mid-air to watch, tumbling about all the crew except Yuuri, who was used by now to the manoeuvre. Daichi kept going a little longer until he noticed that he was alone, then turned and flew back despite Katashi's roared protests.

"What do you suppose it is?" Daichi asked in his rumbling voice, unable to hover himself, he was obliged to fly in circles.

"Listen, you big clodhopper, if it’s any of your concern, you’ll be told," Katashi said. "Will you get back to manoeuvres?"

"I don’t know. Perhaps we could ask the dragon down there," Aoba said. "And there’s no sense in doing manoeuvres anymore. We already know all of these," he added. He sounded so stubborn that Yuuri was startled. He leaned forward, frowning, but before he could speak, Akito called them in, urgently.

"There has been an air battle over the Korea Strait, close to Tsushima," he said with no prelude when they had barely landed. "Several dragons of the covert outside Karatsu responded to distress signals from the city. Though they drove off the North Korean attack, Shori was wounded. He’s very weak and having difficulty staying in the air. The two of you are large enough to help support him and bring him in more quickly. Shouta and Captain Shun will lead you. Go right now."

 

The dragon took the lead and flew off at a tearing speed, showing them his heels easily. He kept barely within the limits of their sight. Daichi couldn’t keep up even with Aoba, however, so they used their radio set to communicate. Katashi and Yuuri agreed that Aoba would go on ahead and his crew would send up regular flares to mark the direction for Daichi.

The arrangements made, Aoba pulled away very rapidly, going, Yuuri thought, a little too fast. The distance was not very great as the dragon flew, the coordinates given being around 300 km away and the other dragons would be coming towards them, closing the distance from the other side. Still, they would need to be able to fly the same distance again to bring Shori in and as they were flying over the ocean, they couldn’t land and rest with the wounded dragon leaning upon them. There would be no getting him off the ground again. Some moderation of speed would be necessary.

Yuuri glanced down at the speed measurement device strapped down to Aoba's harness. 120 km/h. Too fast. "Slower, Ao," he called. "We have a long way ahead of us."

"I’m not tired at all," Aoba said, but he slowed regardless. Yuuri adjusted the pace to 80 km/h, a good pace and one that Aoba could sustain almost indefinitely.

"Can you call Ryota-san?" Yuuri asked. Shortly, the lieutenant clambered forward to Yuuri's position at the base of Aoba's neck, swapping carabineers quickly to move himself along. "What do you think what speed the injured dragon can keep?" Yuuri asked him.

For once, Ryota didn’t respond with cold formality, but thoughtfully. All the aviators had immediately become very grave on the moment of hearing of the injured dragon. "Shori is a Parnassian," he said. "A large mid-weight. Heavier than a Reaper. They don't have heavy-combat dragons at Karatsu, so the others supporting him have to be mid-weights. They cannot be making more than 43 km per hour."

Yuuri nodded. Aoba was going almost twice as quickly then. Taking into account Shouta’s speed in bringing the message, they had perhaps three hours before they would need to start looking for the other party. "Okay. We can as well use the time. Have the topmen and bellmen exchange places for practice and then I think we can try some shooting." He still had problems with giving orders, but somehow he was starting to get used to it.

He felt quite calm and settled himself, something which didn’t happened often, but he could feel Aoba's excitement transmitting itself through a faint twitching along the back of his neck. Of course this was Aoba's first action of any sort and Yuuri stroked the twitching ridge soothingly. He swapped around his carabineers and turned to observe the manoeuvres he had ordered. In sequence, a topman climbed down to the belly-rigging at the same time as a bellman climbed up to the back on the other side, the two weights balancing each other. As the man who had just climbed up locked himself into place, he tugged on the signal-strap, coloured in alternating sections of black and white and pulled it ahead a section. In a moment it advanced again, indicating that the man below had locked himself in as well. All went smoothly. Aoba was presently carrying three topmen and three bellmen and the exchange took less than five minutes all told.

"Toyo-san," Yuuri called one of the lookouts to order. An older cadet, around his age, soon to be made ensign, neglecting his duty to watch the other men at their work. "Can you tell me what is in the upper north-west? No, don’t turn around and look. You have to be able to answer that question the moment it’s asked." The lookout grew red in embarrassment. This made Yuuri somehow uncomfortable, reprimanding someone, but he reminded himself that it was all for the sake of Aoba. Yuuri wanted the best men for his dragon and if he had to be stricter about it and if it meant he had to grow more confidant so they would recognize him, so be it. It was all for Aoba. This was his mantra. So he stifled the guilt clawing its way up and continued to watch out.

The riflemen took up their positions and Yuuri nodded to Ryota to give the order. The topmen began throwing out the flat ceramic disks used for targeting and the riflemen took turns attempting to shoot them out of the air as they flew past. Yuuri watched and frowned. "Ryota-san, Kazu-san, I can count twelve targets out of twenty, do you agree? I don’t think that’s enough at all. Let’s begin again, at a slower rate. Precision first, speed second, Fudo-san, please be not so hasty."

He kept them at it for a full hour, then had them go through the complicated harness adjustments for storm flying. Afterwards he himself went down below and observed the men stationed below while they reverted to fair-weather rigging. They didn’t have the tents aboard, so he couldn’t have them practice going to quarters and breaking down full gear, but they did well enough at the rigging changes and he thought they would have done well even with the additional equipment.

Aoba occasionally glanced around to watch throughout these manoeuvres, his eyes bright. But for the most part he was intent on his flying, rising and falling in the air to catch the best currents, driving himself forward with great steady beats, each thrust fully carried through. Yuuri laid his hand upon the long, ropy muscles of Aoba's neck, feeling them move smoothly as though oiled beneath the skin and he didn’t want to distract him with conversation. There was no need. He knew without speaking that Aoba shared his satisfaction at putting their joint training to real purpose at last. 

The three hours were nearly up and it was time to begin preparing to give support to the injured dragon. Daichi was perhaps half an hour behind them and Aoba would have to carry Shori alone until the Regal Copper caught up. "Ryota-san," Yuuri said, as he latched himself back in to his normal position at the base of the neck, "Let’s clear the back. All the men below, save for the signal-ensign and the forward lookouts."

"Yes, sir," Ryota said, nodding and turned at once to arrange it. Yuuri watched him work with mingled satisfaction and irritation. For the first time in the past week, Ryota had been going about his duties without that air of stiff resentment and Yuuri could easily see the effects. The speed of nearly every operation improved, small defects in harness placement and crew positioning, previously invisible to his own inexperienced eye, now corrected, the atmosphere among the men more relaxed. All the many ways in which an excellent first lieutenant could improve the life of a crew and Ryota proved being capable of them all, but that only made his earlier attitude more regrettable.

Shouta turned and came flying back towards them only shortly after they had cleared the top. Shun pulled him about and cupped his hands around his mouth to call to Yuuri. "I've sighted them, two points to the north and twelve degrees down. You'll need to drop to come up under them. I don't think he can get any more elevation." He signalled the numbers with hand gestures as he spoke.

"Okay," Yuuri called back and had the signal-ensign wave a confirmation with flags. Being a courier, he didn’t have the practical radio set, so they had to do it the old fashioned way. Aoba was large enough now that Shouta couldn’t get so close as to make verbal communication certain.

Aoba stooped into a dive at his quick signal and very soon Yuuri saw a speck on the horizon rapidly enlarge into the group of dragons. Shori was instantly identifiable. He was larger by half than either of the two Yellow Reapers struggling to keep him aloft. Though the injuries were already under thick bandages applied by his crew, blood had seeped through showing the slashing marks where the dragon had evidently taken blows from the enemy beasts. The Parnassian's own claws were unusually large and stained with blood as well, his jaws also. The smaller dragons below looked crowded and there was no one aboard the injured dragon but his captain and perhaps half a dozen men.

"Contact the two supporters. Prepare to stand aside," Yuuri said. The signal-ensign waved the coloured flags in rapid sequence as well as contacting through their radio sets to make sure and a prompt acknowledgment came back. Aoba had already flown around the group and positioned himself properly. He was just below and to the back of the second supporting dragon.

"Ao, are you ready?" Yuuri called. They had practiced this manoeuvre in training, but it would be unusually difficult to carry it out here. The injured dragon was barely beating his wings and his eyes were half-shut with pain and exhaustion. The two supporters were clearly worn out themselves. They would have to drop out of the way smoothly and Aoba dart in very quickly to avoid having Shori collapse into a deadly plummet that would be impossible to stop.

"Yes. Please hurry, they look so tired," Aoba answered, glancing back. His muscles were tightly gathered, they had matched the others' pace and nothing more could be gained by waiting.

"Signal: exchange positions on lead dragon's mark," Yuuri ordered. The flags waved, the communication made, the acknowledgment came. Then on both sides of the foremost of the two supporting dragons, the red flags went out and then were swapped for the green.

The rear dragon dropped and peeled aside swiftly as Aoba lunged. But the forward dragon went a little too slowly, his wings stuttering and Shori began to tilt forward as the Reaper tried to descend away and make room. "Dive, goddammit, dive!" Yuuri roared at the top of his lungs. The smaller dragon's lashing tail was dangerously near Aoba's head and they couldn’t move into place.

The Reaper gave up the manoeuvre and simply folded his wings. He dropped out of the way like a stone. "Ao, you have to get him up a little so you can come forward," Yuuri shouted again, crouched low against the neck. Shori's hindquarters had settled over Aoba's shoulders instead of further back and the great belly was less than three feet overhead, barely kept up by the injured dragon's waning strength.

Aoba showed with a bob of his head that he had heard and understood. He beat up rapidly at an angle, pushing the slumping Parnassian back up higher through sheer strength, then snapped his wings closed. A brief, sickening drop, then his wings fanned out again. With a single great thrust, Aoba had himself properly positioned and Shori came heavily down upon them again.

Yuuri had a moment of relief. Then Aoba cried out in pain. He turned and saw in horror that in his confusion and agony, Shori was scrabbling at Aoba and the great claws had raked Aoba's shoulder and side. Above, muffled, he heard the other captain shouting. Shori stopped, but Aoba was already bleeding and straps of the harness were hanging loose and flapping in the wind.

Yuuri felt terror dawning down on him. Seeing the blood dripping he felt like something broke inside him and there was nothing more he would like to do than scream. His body started to tremble and his heart beat fast and hard. He was short of a panic attack. But his rational part reminded him where he was and what he had to do, so he pinched himself and tried his best to concentrate. He could panic later.

They were losing elevation rapidly. Aoba was struggling to keep flying under the other dragon's weight. Yuuri fought with his carabineers, yelling at the signal-ensign to let the men below know. The boy scrambled partway down the neck-strap, waving the white- and-red flag wildly. In a moment Yuuri gratefully saw Ryota climbing up with two other men to bandage the wounds, reaching the gashes more quickly than he could. He stroked Aoba, called reassurance to him in a voice that struggled not to break. Aoba didn’t spare the effort to turn and reply but bravely kept beating his wings, though his head was drooping with the strain.

"Not deep," Ryota shouted, from where they worked to pad the gashes and Yuuri could breathe and think clearly again. Although he still felt faint. The harness was shifting upon Aoba's back. Aside from a great deal of lesser rigging, the main shoulder-strap had been nearly cut through, saved only by the wires that ran through it. But the leather was parting and as soon as it went the wires would break under the strain of all the men and gear currently riding below.

"All of you! Take off your harnesses and pass them to me," Yuuri yelled to the signal-ensign and the lookouts. The three boys were the only ones left above, besides him. "Grab on the main harness and get your arms or legs tucked beneath." The leather of the personal harnesses was thick, solidly stitched, well-oiled, the carabineers were solid steel. Not quite as strong as the main harness, but it would do.

He slung the three harnesses over his arm and clambered along the back-strap to the broader part of the shoulders. Ryota and the two midwingmen were still working on the injuries to Aoba's side. They spared him a puzzled look and Yuuri realized they couldn’t see the nearly severed shoulder-band. It was hidden from their view by Aoba's foreleg. There was no time to call them forward to help in any case. The band was rapidly beginning to give way.

He couldn’t come at it normally. If he tried to put his weight on any of the rings along the shoulder-band, it would break at once. Working as quickly as he could under the roaring pressure of the wind, he hooked two of the harnesses together by their carabineers, then looped them around the back-strap. "Ao, stay as level as you can," he shouted, then, clinging to the ends of the harnesses, he unlocked his own carabineers and climbed carefully out onto the shoulder, held by nothing more secure than his grip on the leather.

Ryota was shouting something at him, the wind was tearing it away and he couldn’t make out the words. Yuuri tried to keep his eyes fixed on the straps, the ground below was the beautiful, the ocean was a deep blue and the waves were calm. They reminded him a bit of Hasetsu. He was in arm's reach now. With a hand that shook slightly, he latched the first carabineer of the third loose harness onto the ring just above the cut and the second onto the ring just below. He pulled on the straps, throwing his weight against them as much as he dared. His arms ached and trembled as if with high fever. Inch by inch, he drew the small harness tighter, until at last the portion between the carabineers was the same size as the cut portion of the band and was taking much of its weight. The leather stopped fraying away.

He looked up. Ryota was slowly climbing towards him, snapping onto rings as he came. Now that the harness was in place, the strain was not an immediate danger, so Yuuri didn’t wave him off, but only shouted, "Call up Fukita-san," the harness-master and pointed to the spot. Ryota's eyes widened as he came over the foreleg and saw the broken strap.

As Ryota turned to signal below for help, bright sunlight abruptly fell full on his face. Shori was shuddering above them, wings convulsing and the Parnassian's chest came heavily down on Aoba's back. Aoba staggered in mid-air, one shoulder dipping under the blow and Yuuri was sliding along the linked harness straps, wet palms giving him no purchase. The blue world was spinning beneath him and his hands were already tired and slick with sweat, his grip was failing and he let out a surprised shout.

"Yuuri, hold on!" Aoba called, head turned to look back at him, his muscles and wing-joints were shifting as he prepared to snatch Yuuri out of the air.

"Don’t let him fall!" Yuuri shouted, horrified, Aoba couldn’t try to catch him except by tipping Shori off his back and sending the Parnassian to his death. "Aoba, _don’t_!"

"Yuuri!" Aoba cried again, his claws flexing. His eyes were wide and distressed and his head waved back and forth in denial. Yuuri could see he didn’t mean to obey. He struggled to keep hold of the leather straps, to try and climb up. If he fell, it was not only his own life which would be forfeit, but the injured dragon and all his crew still aboard. He couldn’t risk it. It wasn’t only his life on the line but many other. 

Ryota was there suddenly, seizing Yuuri's harness in both his hands. "Lock onto me," he shouted. Yuuri saw at once what he meant. With one hand still clinging to the linked harnesses, he locked his loose carabineers onto the rings of Ryota's harness, then transferred his grip to Ryota's chest-straps. Then the midwingmen reached them, suddenly there were many strong hands grabbing at them, drawing Yuuri and Ryota back up together to the main harness and they held Yuuri in place while he locked his carabineers back onto the proper rings.

He could barely breathe yet, but he called urgently, "I’m okay." His voice was hardly audible. He pulled in a deep breath and tried again, more clearly this time: "I’m fine, Ao! Keep flying." The tense muscles beneath them unwound slowly and Aoba beat up again, regaining a little of the elevation they had lost. The whole process had lasted perhaps fifteen minutes. He was shaking so hard like never before and his heart was thundering in his breast. But even though he would normally now start to panic, he was still so full of adrenaline, that he didn’t feel it. So he used this to keep a clear head, something he really needed right now.

Ryota and the midwingmen looked barely more composed. "Well done," Yuuri said to them after he calmed down a bit more. His voice was steadier now but still, a tremble could be heard underneath. "Let’s give Fukita-san room to work. Ryota-san, please send someone up to Shori's captain and see how we can help. We have to take precautions to keep him from injuring Ao further."

They gaped at him for a moment. Ryota was the first to recover and began issuing orders. By the time Yuuri had made his way, very cautiously, back to his post at the base of Aoba's neck, the midwingmen were wrapping Shori's claws with bandages to prevent him from scratching Aoba again and Daichi was coming into sight in the distance, hurrying to their assistance. For Yuuri, he could not come fast enough.

 

The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful, if the effort involved in supporting a nearly unconscious dragon through the air were ever to be considered ordinary. As soon as they landed Shori safely in the courtyard, the surgeons came hurrying to see to both him and Aoba. To Yuuri's great relief, the cuts really were just shallow. They were cleaned and inspected, pronounced minor and a loose pad placed over them to keep the torn hide from being irritated. Then Aoba was set loose and Yuuri told to let him sleep and eat as much as he liked for a week.

It wasn’t the most pleasant way to win a few days of liberty, but the free time was welcomed. Yuuri immediately walked Aoba to an open clearing near the covert, not wanting to strain him by another flight, as short as it would be. Though the clearing was upon the mountain, it was relatively level and covered in soft green grass. It faced south and the sun came into it nearly the entire day. There the two of them slept together from that afternoon until late in the next, Yuuri stretched out upon Aoba's warm back, until hunger woke them both.

"I feel much better. I’m sure I can hunt normally," Aoba said. Yuuri wouldn’t hear any of it. He walked back up to the workshops and roused the ground crew instead. Soon they had driven a small group of cattle up from the pens and slaughtered them. Aoba devoured every last scrap and fell directly back to sleep.

Yuuri was hesitant to ask Tarou to arrange for the servants to bring him some food. It made Yuuri uncomfortable to ask something, but he was reluctant to leave Aoba. Tarou took no offense, but when he returned, Lieutenant Ryota was with him, along with Fukita and a couple of the other lieutenants.

"You should go and have something hot to eat and a bath and then sleep in your own bed," Ryota said quietly, having waved the others off a little distance. "You’re drenched in blood and it’s not warm enough yet for you to sleep outside without risk of getting sick. I and the other officers will take turns to stay with him. We’ll fetch you immediately if he wakes up, or if anything should happen."

Yuuri blinked and looked down at himself. He hadn’t even noticed that his clothes were spattered and streaked with the near-black dragon blood. As it seemed, he was still out of himself and surely he looked horrible. He looked up at Aoba, the dragon was completely unaware of his surroundings, sides rising and falling with a low, steady rumble. "I think you’re right," he said. "Thank you," he added.

Ryota nodded. And with a last look up the sleeping Aoba, Yuuri took himself back to the castle. Now that it had been brought to mind, the sensation of dirt and sweat was terrible on his skin. He was used to daily bathing. He stopped by his room only long enough to exchange his stained clothes for fresh and went straight to the baths.

It was shortly after dinner and many of the officers had a habit of bathing at this hour. After Yuuri washed himself, he found the baths. But as he came in, several men made room for him. He gladly took the opened place and returned the nods of greeting around the room before he sat himself down. He was so tired that it only occurred to him after his eyes were closed in the blissful heat that the attention had been unusual and kind. He almost sat up again with surprise.

When he finally came back to his room, it all came rushing down to him. And suddenly he felt fear. Yuuri could feel the panic rise and how everything seemed to come crashing down to him. He started to cry and tremble all over, suddenly realizing what happened. How Aoba had been ready to drop everything for him, how those life’s had been in danger because of him, how their death would have been his fault. And he remembered the fear when he saw his beloved Aoba hurt, blood gushing out of them. It didn’t matter that it had been a shallow wound, it was a wound all the same. What would happen the next time? Would it be worse? Yuuri could barely imagine it being worse. The scream of pain still clung in his ears and he could do nothing to stop it. He was so very scared. So he rolled himself and let it all wash over him until he finally fell asleep in fatigue.

 

"Well flown, very well flown, Captain," Akito told him that evening, approvingly, when he belatedly came to report. "No, you don’t need to apologize for being tardy. Lieutenant Ryota has given me a report and with Captain Katashi's report I know well enough what happened. We prefer a captain being more concerned for his dragon than for our bureaucracy. I trust Aoba is doing well?"

"Thank you, sir, yes," Yuuri said gratefully. "The surgeons have told me there is no cause for alarm and he says he’s comfortable. Have you any duties for me during his recovery?"

"Nothing other than to keep him occupied, which might be enough of a challenge," Akito said, with the snort that passed for a chuckle with him. "Well, that’s not quite true. I do have one task for you. Once Aoba is recovered, you and Daichi will be joining Riko's formation straightaway. We have bad news from North Korea. Under the circumstances and given this lost week, we cannot wait any longer. Therefore it’s time to assign your flight crew and I would like your requests. Consider the men who have served with you these last weeks and we will discuss the matter tomorrow."

Yuuri walked slowly back out to the clearing after this, deep in thought. He had begged a tent from the ground crews and brought along a blanket. He liked the idea better than spending the whole night away from Aoba. He found Aoba still sleeping peacefully, the flesh around the bandaged area only ordinarily warm to the touch.

Having satisfied himself on this point, Yuuri asked, “Can we speak, Ryota-san?" and led the lieutenant a short distance away. "Akito has asked me to name my officers," he said, looking steadily at Ryota, feeling calmer and more confidant, now that he cried his fears and panic out. The older man flushed and looked down. Yuuri continued, "I will not put you in the position of refusing a post, but if you have any objections, voice it now please."

"Sir," Ryota began, then shut his mouth abruptly, looking mortified. He had used the term so often in veiled insolence. He started over again. "Captain, I’m well aware I have done little enough to deserve it. I can only say that if you are willing to overlook my past behaviour, I would be very glad of the opportunity." This speech was a little stilted, as if he had tried to rehearse it.

Yuuri nodded, satisfied. His decision had been hard. If it hadn’t been for Aoba's sake, he was not sure if he could accept a man who had behaved disrespectfully towards him, despite Ryota's recent heroics and despite the awkwardness of having a captain quite a few years younger than him. But Ryota was so clearly the best of them all that Yuuri had decided to take the risk. He was happy with the reply. It was respectful even if awkwardly delivered. “Good," he said simply.

They had just begun walking back when Ryota suddenly said, "Oh, damn it. I may not be able to word it properly, but I cannot just leave things at that. I have to tell you how very sorry I’m. I know I have been the asshole."

Yuuri was surprised but not displeased and he could never have refused an apology offered with so much sincerity and feeling as was obvious in Ryota's tone. "I’m very happy to accept your apology," he said, quietly but with real warmth. "For my part, I’ve forgotten it and I hope from now on we can be better comrades than we have been."

They stopped and shook hands. Ryota looked both relieved and happy and when Yuuri shyly asked for his recommendations for other officers and he answered with great enthusiasm, as they made their way back towards Aoba's side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First action over and Yuuri had his first panic attack in his new career.  
> It's hard for him of course and he's going to have it way harder in the future. I chose something like this, no fighting, because I didn't want to throw Yuuri directly in a battle, where he would be completely useless and wouldn't have a clue as to what to do. And he had such a strong panic attack after Aoba was wounded this lightly, how would you think he would have reacted if he was thrown into a full blown attack? That means, he got a small taste what his future will bring and he doesn't really like it. He'll get used to it, because he doesn't have another choice, but first, he's going to have a few more breakdowns.  
> And wealso got a small glimpse as to what Yuuri is to Aoba. As you realized, Aoba was ready to let everyone be killed just to save Yuuri. This is a trait, all bonded dragons share. Their unconditional love to their handler. Once chosen, they would burn the world for them, which can actually bring a lot of problems. There will be more scenes and metions in the future where this topic will be explained more. =)  
> But first, did you like this chapter? I looked into the book and thought that such a mission was a good start before the heavier stuff comes. I'm always unsure with this story, because I sometimes have the feeling, I don't do this AU justice. -.-  
> And I have good news for thos who look forward to the Victuuri part. =)  
> I did a quick thinking and concluded, that around chapter 13 or 14, but no later than 15 will start the second part. =)  
> That means timeskip and Yuuri and Viktor will meet for the first time and the real story start. =)  
> Prepare for a very unhappy and jealous Ao. =D
> 
> Next chapter: Jealous and insecure Aoba and more bonding time. =)  
> And I apologize in advance, because no chapter until wedneday or later. My big sister is going to visit me over the weekend and she'll stay over easter. =)  
> And I haven't seen her since ... Christmas ... I just realized that it's been quite a long time. So we're going to catch up and have a little bonding time, before I'll be thrown back into the pit that is university. =)  
> Hope you're not angry. =)  
> Until next time. =)  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =)  
> Bye =) ^^


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =D  
> I'm back. =)  
> Did you have a nice Easter? I had to spend Monday at the airport chasing down my parents. Airports are pretty big!  
> Anyway, I had a few nice days of rest and spening time with my sister. University started again but right now and for a good while it'll be fairly calm. I think the big exam time will start around the end of May, so I'll have a bit of time to concentrate more on my stories. =)  
> So, new chapter today. =)  
> There aren't really new people for you to know, so I'll skip the introduction part. =)  
> Hope you like it. =)

There was one good thing about the free week of liberty because of Aoba’s wounds. They could sit together and watch Worlds. 

Yuuri had asked prior if Aoba would want to and the dragon had happily exclaimed that he would be happy to learn more about the things Yuuri liked. Thus, not two days later, Yuuri sat on Aoba’s leg, like always when they were reading together, and tried his best to connect to the internet to find a good stream.

“I’m sure you’ll like it. I watched European Championships last month and they were just as good. But I wonder how much they all developed their programs.” Yuuri said and tipped on his laptop. Then he connected.

“Finally!” He exclaimed happily and leaned back, Aoba peering curiously over his shoulder. Yuuri looked up in concern. “Can you see anything?” He asked.

“Yes. It is a little small, but I can see just fine. Don’t worry about me.” The dragon said and nudged his captain. Yuuri smiled and stroked his snout. 

“Today is the men’s short program. Unfortunately Viktor is in the last group, so we won’t see him until the end. But the others are impressive as well.” Yuuri told Aoba and waited for the event to start.

Finally they began and as it seemed, Aoba really started to like figure skating. Even if he was confused a few times. 

“Yuuri? Why are they throwing things at him? It’s not nice to do that.”

“Oh, it’s tradition for fans to throw presents after their performances.”

“Yuuri? Why did he get fewer points than the man before him? They both succeeded in the axel, so why did the man before get more?”

“It’s because the jump was a little tight. You can’t see it now, but the axel wasn’t perfect.”

“Really? For me they seemed completely identical.” Aoba said in confusion. Yuuri laughed. 

“That’s completely normal. It’s the first time you see a competition and then on this small screen. It’s no wonder you can’t tell them apart yet. Maybe if you see them more often you’ll start to see the differences.” He explained.

What also impressed the dragon were the costumes. “They all sparkle very beautifully!” He said excitingly. “Yuuri, why don’t you wear them?”

The aviator sweat dropped. “Well,” Yuuri tried to explain, “I don’t think I could move very well in them.”

But Aoba would have none of that. “But they all move in those clothes without problems! Look! They can jump in them and do splits and spins. I’m very sure that these clothes would have to be very comfortable. Because if not, how would they do it? So I’m sure you would be able to move without restrictions.”

… That … sounded very logical. But he was sure that he would never wear them anyway.

“Ao, those are costumes specifically made for their programs. I can’ just copy them.” He tried to explain, but the dragon shook his head. 

“Then we just have to design different ones. And even if they would resemble those,” Aoba said, “They would suit you way better.”

“But …” Yuuri tried to think hard on how to explain him, that he definitely _couldn’t_ wear figure skating costumes into the air. “But then no one would know that I’m an aviator. I have the same coat like the others so everyone knows that I’m an aviator.” He finally pressed out, hoping that it was enough of an explanation.

Aoba seemed to consider it for a moment, before he finally relented. “Very well. I suppose you are right. And it would be terrible if one wouldn’t show you the proper respect because he can’t recognize you as my captain. But it really is a shame.” He sighed. “You would look so good in them. I would design you a costume with lots of diamonds and gold buttons and the very finest silk with stones all over.”

Yuuri thought in silent horror, that if he were to wear something like that, the people would need sunglasses before they would be able to look at him. 

Fortunately the discussion was halted as the last group came into view. And with them the person Yuuri wanted to watch skate the most. Viktor Nikiforov.

When Viktor finally entered the ice, Yuuri sat up straighter and stared more intently at the screen. Aoba looked at him in confusion, then back to the screen. Through the whole program Yuuri was completely spell bound and couldn’t stop gushing about him. 

“Look! Have you seen this triple axel? Beautiful! And this flip? And the quad toe – triple toe combination! Just perfect! And this spin! So tight and sharp!” All through the program he just couldn’t stop fawning over him to Aoba. And when he sat in the kiss and cry and received his points, Yuuri cheered when he was put in first place.

“He was beautiful, don’t you think so?” Yuuri gushed to Aoba, waiting for a confirmation. 

“He is not _that_ good.” Aoba finally said, “He is not that much better than the others and I really can’t see what makes him so special. Just because he didn’t make any mistakes, doesn’t mean he is better than the rest. Maybe they just had bad days. I, anyway, can’t understand why he got so many points when he was clearly not that much better than the others.”

Yuuri frowned and turned around. “Ao! Why would you say that? Didn’t you see how good he was? Of course he deserved the points. I’d say he rather deserved more! His presentation was worth more than the points he got.”

Then Yuuri saw his dragon. … Was he … pouting? Aoba didn’t seem impressed and rather insulted. Not at all happy at what he saw. Then it clicked.

“I won’t deny that he was good and had a solid performance,” Aoba said, “But I don’t think he was better than the others and I really can’t understand what you see in him.” He huffed and turned away.

Yuuri stared at his dragon before he broke out laughing. He laughed so hard that he had to cradle his stomach. Aoba turned back to him and stared at him as if he were offended.

“Why are you laughing?” Aoba asked almost sulkily and Yuuri just laughed harder. 

When he finally calmed down, he beckoned for his dragon to come closer and Aoba’s big head bowed down. Yuuri stroked his soft snout and smiled at him.

“Ao, could it be that you’re _jealous_? Of _Viktor_ of all people?” He asked and chuckled. 

“Well,” Aoba said, wanting to turn away in embarrassment, but didn’t because of the hand still on his snout, “You seem to like him very much. And you told me so much about him and seemed to always be happy to talk about him. And then, all through his program you just praised him over and over and gushed and you looked so happy watching him. And you have never met him but always seem to praise him and I’m right here and we’re together every day. And maybe you like him more than me.”

Towards the end his voice got smaller and he seemed to deflate in sadness, as if he really believed it.

Yuuri stared at his dear dragon in confusion. After he understood, he gave his friend the softest smile Aoba had ever seen and Yuuri cradled Aoba’s head.

“Oh Ao,” He sighed, smiling and putting his forehead onto his. Aoba purred in content at the closeness. “Your worries are so unfounded. Of course I adore and look up to Viktor. He was my inspiration for almost as long as I skated. But he is not _you_. Sure, I adore his skating and I like him. But he could never replace you. You are so much more important to me and I love you so much. You don’t have to worry about him replacing you in my heart for there is nothing to replace. You’ll always come first.”

Yuuri stroked him in comfort and said: “Forgive me. I hadn’t realized that my obsession with his skating made you so uncomfortable and unsure that you would question my affection towards you. I assure you that between you and him, you, who is with me since your hatching and Viktor, whom I only ever see on TV and magazines, there is no contest. You’ve won the day you hatched and accepted the name I gave you.”

Aoba stared at him and draw himself around him more closely. “Is it true? Do you really like me more than him? You wouldn’t choose him over me?” he asked and the uncertainty in his voice was painful to hear.

Yuuri smiled and shook his head. “Never. I would never change you for something or someone else. I decided that you are more important to me the day I decided to harness and decided to enter the Corps with you. I chose you over the ice and I would do it over and over again.”

Making a soft crooning noise deep in his throat, Aoba curled around him even closer and nuzzled him carefully. Yuuri stroked the sleek nose.

Yuuri hadn’t realized that his obsession with Viktor would make him feel so insecure. He never wanted to hurt Aoba and still, it seemed that he did just that. With his unstoppable praise he let him feel as if Viktor was better than him in Yuuri’s eyes and Aoba was unsure already because he was different than the other dragons here. That was really stupid and had to hurt him a lot.

“I’m sorry,” He apologized after a while of comfortable silence and Aoba just nosed him gently, relishing the soft caresses Yuuri gave him and sighed in comfort.

“It’s okay. I should have known that you would never think of him any better than me. I’m a Celestial dragon after all, a rare breed and one of the best in the whole world. He of course wouldn’t be able to compare.” Aoba tried to reassure himself and Yuuri laughed. He pressed a soft kiss to his nose and smiled gently.

“Of course. You’re the best dragon after all.”

Aoba stared at him in wonder and cradled him closer, purring contently over the continued strokes and offered affection and feeling assured and calm. 

Two days later they watched the free program together and Yuuri held back with praises to Viktor in consideration for his dragon. But he seemed to have calmed down and offered his own comments to the skaters.

“Well, I have to admit, that this Viktor might be not too bad. I wouldn’t say he is the best skater, for I am sure you would have been better if you would have continued, which I wouldn’t have wanted, for then you would be parted from me, which is not at all acceptable, but he isn’t the worst either. Maybe he is quite a good jumper and his step sequences are not bad and his performance is also acceptable. But I wouldn’t say he is the best quite _yet_ and I don’t understand why all people seem so obsessed with him.” He said while they watched the medal ceremony and Yuuri laughed.

“Of course. He has still room to grow and the same goes for us. I don’t think I would have been better and I’m not at all sorry to have entered the Corps with you, but even if I would have not, I don’t think I would have made it very far. There are a lot who have more talent than me.” Yuuri explained and Aoba just huffed.

“You’re selling yourself too short. I bet you would have been way more beautiful than all of them combined. You are my captain after all. But I won’t complain. If you wouldn’t have chosen to keep my egg, then I would probably have another captain, which I am sure I wouldn’t have liked as much as you and who would have been very mean and nasty and not at all nice. I probably would have gotten a captain like poor Sousuke, who would abandon me all the time. So I will not complain at all. And the military is better than the world of figure skating anyway. That I am sure.” Aoba said and it sounded more like he tried to convince himself than Yuuri. Underlined through the fact that he peered down at his captain doubtfully.

Yuuri just smiled and stroked his neck again. “Of course. Even if I got the choice once again, I would choose you without second thought. So don’t worry, okay?”

Aoba seemed satisfied with the answer and they both settled to watch the rest of the ceremony together.

But Yuuri still couldn’t stifle the small voice inside his head which told him that he didn’t deserve Aoba. He was such an amazing dragon. Beautiful, strong, intelligent and such a rare breed and he had him of all people as captain. He was sure that there would have been other, more worthy people and aviators, who waited years and years for the possibility of harnessing a dragon and he just came inside, just through pure luck, without a clue, without proper training, and was made captain without knowing anything. He was sure that there would have been others way more capable than him. But he knew that if he would have told Aoba of his concerns, he would just discard them and call them foolish. So he stayed silent. And battled this voice when he was alone.

 

Even before the pad of bandages had come off, Aoba began to make noises about wanting to be bathed again. By the end of the week, the cuts were scabbed over and healing and the surgeons gave grudging approval. Yuuri came out to the courtyard to take the waiting Aoba down and found him talking with the female Longwing whose formation they would be joining.

"Does it hurt when you spray?" Aoba was asking curiously. Yuuri could see that Aoba was inspecting the pitted bone spurs on either side of her jaw, where the acid was ejected.

"No, I don’t feel it in the least," Riko answered. "The spray will only come out if I’m pointing my head down, so I don’t splash myself, either. Although of course you all have to be careful to avoid it when we are in formation."

The enormous wings were folded against her back, looking brown with the translucent folds of blue and orange overlapping each other. Only the black-and-white edges stood out against her sides. Her eyes were slit-pupiled, like Aoba's, but orange-yellow, and the exposed bone spurs showing on either side of her jaw gave her a very savage appearance. But she stood with perfect patience while her ground crew scrambled over her, polishing and cleaning every scrap of harness with great attention. Captain Monoka was walking back and forth around her and inspecting the work.

Riko looked down at Yuuri as he came to Aoba's side. Her alarming eyes gave her stare a baleful quality, although she was only curious. "Are you Aoba's captain? Yukiko, can we not go to the lake with them? I’m not sure I want to go in the water, but I would like to watch."

"Go to the lake?" Captain Monoka was drawn from her inspection of the harness by the suggestion, and she stared at Yuuri in open astonishment.

"Yes. I’m taking Aoba to bathe," Yuuri explained. 

Tarou was working on cleaning Sousuke's harness. The little dragon had just come back from eating. "You'll be going along?" he asked Sousuke. 

"Oh, I would like to," Sousuke said, looking at Yuuri hopefully, as if for permission.

"Thank you, Sousuke," Yuuri said, smiling. "That’s a great idea actually.” He turned to his own dragon. "Ao, should I ride with them or will you carry me?"

"I will carry you, of course," Aoba said, sounding as if even the thought otherwise was offending.

Yuuri nodded. "Tarou-san, are you otherwise occupied? Your assistance would be helpful, and Sousuke can certainly manage you if Aoba carries me."

"Why, I would be happy, sir, but I don’t have a harness," Tarou said, eyeing Sousuke with interest. "I have never been up before. I mean, not outside the ground-crew rigging, that is. I suppose I can cobble something together out of a spare, though, if you give me a moment."

While Tarou was working on rigging himself out, Daichi descended into the courtyard, shaking the ground as he landed. "Are you ready?" he asked Aoba, looking pleased. Katashi was on his back, along with a couple of midwingmen.

"He has been moaning about it so long I have given in," Katashi said, in answer to Yuuri's amused and questioning look. "Damned foolish idea if you ask me, dragons swimming. Great nonsense." He thumped Daichi's shoulder affectionately, belying his words.

"We are also coming," Riko said. She and Captain Monoka had held a quiet discussion while the rest of the party assembled and now she lifted Captain Monoka aboard onto her harness. Aoba picked Yuuri up carefully. Despite the great talons Yuuri was not worried in the least. He was perfectly comfortable in the enclosure of the curving fingers. He could sit in the palm and be as protected as in a metal cage.

Once down by the shore, only Aoba went directly into the deep water and began to swim. Daichi came tentatively into the shallows, but went no further than he could stand and Riko stood on the shore watching, nosing at the water but not going in. Sousuke, as was his habit, first wavered on the shore and then dashed out all at once, splashing and flapping wildly with his eyes tightly shut until he got out to the deeper water and began to paddle around enthusiastically.

"Do we need to go in with them?" one of Katashi's midwingmen asked, with a certain tone of alarm.

"No, don’t even think about it," Yuuri said. "This lake is runoff from the mountain snows and we would turn blue in a moment. But the swim will take away the worst of the dirt and blood from their feeding and the rest will be much easier to clean once they have soaked a little."

"Hm," Riko said, listening to this, and very slowly crept out into the water.

"Are you sure it’s not too cold for you, dear?" Monoka called after her. "I have never heard of a dragon catching a flu. I suppose it’s out of the question?" she asked, turning to Yuuri and Katashi.

"No, cold just wakes 'em up, unless it’s freezing weather. That they don't care for," Katashi answered, then raised his voice to bellow, "Daichi, you great coward, go in if you mean to. I am not going to stand here all day."

"I’m not afraid," Daichi said indignantly and lunged forward, sending out a great wave that briefly swamped Sousuke and washed over Aoba. Sousuke came up with a splutter and Aoba snorted and ducked his head into the water to splash at Daichi. Soon the two were engaged in a royal battle that let the lake look like the Pacific in a storm.

Sousuke came fluttering out of the lake, dripping cold water onto all of the waiting aviators. Tarou started to wipe him down and the little dragon said, "Oh, I really love swimming. Thank you for letting me come again."

"I don’t see why you cannot come as often as you like," Yuuri said, glancing at Katashi and Monoka to see how they would take this. Neither of them seemed to give it the slightest thought or to think his interference officious.

Riko had at last gone in deep enough to be mostly submerged, or at least as much as her natural buoyancy would allow. She stayed well away from the splashing pair of younger dragons, and scrubbed at her own hide with the side of her head. She came out next, more interested in being washed than in the swimming and rumbled in pleasure as she pointed out spots and had them carefully cleaned by Monoka.

Daichi and Aoba finally had enough and came out to be wiped down as well. Daichi required all the exertions of Katashi and his two grown midwingmen. Working on the delicate skin of Aoba's face, Yuuri could not hide a smile at Katashi's grumbling over his dragon's size.

He stepped back from his work a moment to simply enjoy the scene. Aoba was speaking with the other dragons freely, his eyes bright and his head held proudly with no more signs of self-doubt. And even if this strange, mixed company was not anything Yuuri would once have sought out for himself, the easy camaraderie warmed him. He was conscious of having helped Aoba to proof himself and of the deep satisfaction of having found a true and worthy place, for the both of them.

The pleasure lasted until their return to the courtyard. A man was standing by the side of the courtyard, tall with a sharp nose and high cheekbones, wearing evening dress and tapping the straps of his personal harness against the side of his leg in very obvious irritation and Sousuke gave a little alarmed hop as he landed. "What do you mean by flying off like this?" he said, not even waiting for Tarou to climb down. "When you are not feeding, you are to be here and waiting, do you understand me? And you there, who told you that you could ride him?"

"Sousuke was kind enough to carry him to help me, Captain," Yuuri said, stepping out of Aoba's hand and smiled, trying to appear more confident than he felt. "We were only down at the lake, and a signal would have fetched us in a moment. I think I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Captain Katsuki Yuuri of Aoba."

"I am Captain Aizen Botan and I do not care to be running after signal-men to have my dragon available and I will thank you to mind your own beast and leave mine to me," he said, very coldly. "I suppose you are wet now?" he added to Sousuke, ignoring Yuuri completely.

"No, no. I’m sure I’m mostly dry, I was not in for very long at all, I promise," Sousuke said, hunching himself very small.

"Let us hope so," Aizen said. "Bend down, hurry up about it. And you lot are to stay away from him from now on," he told them as he climbed up in their place, nearly shouldering Tarou aside.

Yuuri stood watching Sousuke fly away with Aizen on his back. Katashi and Captain Monoka were silent, as were the other dragons. Riko abruptly turned her head and made an angry spitting noise. Only a few droplets fell, but they sizzled and smoked upon the stone, leaving deep black pockmarks.

"Riko!" Captain Monoka yelled, but there was a quality of relief in her voice at the break in the silence. "Please bring some harness oil, Sho," she said to one of her ground crewmen, climbing down. She poured it in big amounts over the acid droplets, until smoke ceased rising. "There, cover it with some sand and tomorrow it should be safe to wash."

Yuuri was also glad for the small distraction. He didn’t immediately trust himself to speak. Aoba nuzzled him gently. "I shouldn’t ever have suggested it, sir," Tarou said. "I should apologize to you and Captain Aizen's."

"Not at all, Tarou-san," Yuuri said. He could hear his own voice, cold and very stern, and he tried to minimize the effect by adding, "You have done absolutely nothing wrong."

Yuuri was finally under control again. He was so angry right now. He always wondered what kind of person Sousuke’s captain was for neglecting him so. But he never would have thought that he was such an asshole! Yuuri felt the anger built up inside him at watching the poor dragon being so neglected and abused.

“Tarou-san, could you do me a favour and bring these towels to the laundry? I think I would like to take a walk before supper.” He bowed and turned around.

Aoba was too large to successfully creep after him, so the dragon resorted instead to flying past and waiting for him in the first small clearing along his path. Yuuri had thought he wanted to be alone, but he found he was very glad to come into the dragon's encircling forearms and lean upon his warm bulk, listening to the almost musical thrumming of his heart and the steady reverberation of his breathing. The anger slipped away, but it left misery in its place. He would have desperately liked to call Aizen out.

"I can’t understand why Sousuke endures it. Even if he’s small, he’s still much bigger than Aizen," Aoba said eventually.

"Why do you endure it when I ask you to put on a harness, or perform some dangerous manoeuvre?" Yuuri said. "It’s his duty and it’s his habit. From the shell he has been raised to obey and has suffered such treatment. He likely doesn’t know alternatives."

"But he sees you and the other captains. No one else is treated so," Aoba said. He flexed his claws. They dug furrows in the ground. "I don’t obey you because it’s a habit and I can’t think for myself. I do it because I know you are worthy of being obeyed. You would never treat me unkindly and you would not ask me to do something dangerous or unpleasant without cause."

"No, not without cause," Yuuri said. "But this service is hard and we sometimes have to be willing to bear a lot." He hesitated, then added gently, "I wanted to talk to you about it, Aoba. You have to promise me in future not to place my life above that of so many others. You surely see that Shori is far more necessary to the Corps than I could ever be, even if there were not also his crew to consider. You should never have contemplated risking their lives to save mine."

Aoba curled more closely around him. "No, Yuuri, I cannot promise such a thing," he said. "I’m sorry, but I will not lie to you. I could not have let you fall. You may value their lives above your own. I can’t do so, for to me you are worth far more than all of them. I will not obey you in such a case and as for duty, I don’t care for it at all, the more I see of it."

Yuuri was not sure how to answer this. He couldn’t deny that he was touched by the degree to which Aoba valued him, yet it was also alarming to have the dragon express so plainly that he would follow orders or not at his own judgement. Yuuri trusted that judgment a great deal, but he felt again that he had made no real effort to teach Aoba the value of discipline and duty. "I wish I knew how to explain it to you properly," he said, a little despairingly. "Maybe I’ll find some books on the subject."

"Maybe," Aoba said, for once dubious about reading something. "I don’t think anything would persuade me to behave differently. In any case, I would much rather just avoid it ever happening again. It was so terrible and I was afraid I might not be able to catch you."

Yuuri could smile at this. "On that point at least we agree and I will gladly promise you to do my best to avoid any repetition."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jealous and insecure Aoba. =D  
> And the first dislike against Viktor are sown. =D  
> This won't end bode well for Viktor in the future. >D  
> He'll have to suffer and prove himself before Aoba will allow him to date his beloved Yuuri.>D  
> Imagine a dangerous big brother, just 20 tons and really big with sharp claws and talons. >D  
> I hope you liked this chapter. I had fun writing it. =D  
> I think the next update will be around Sunday or Monday. I tend to Monday because I'll have a visitor on Sunday and I don't know how long it'll last. Hope you're not angry. =)  
> Until next time. =)  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =D  
> Bye =D ^^


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi.  
> First, I apologize for not uploading on Monday like I promised. Life got in the way. And first, bad news. In my family a ot has happened in the last few days and I'm not unaffected by this. There's so much stress and problems right now that I don't actually know where to start and it affected me as well as my parents and sister. Andas well as my writing.  
> I know I promised that I upload more because I have more free time now, but I don't think I can keep it and I deeply apologize. This morning I got a call from my mother and there's an emergency where I'm going to have to help out.  
> Then, as you all know, University started and I have papers and protocolls to write. This wouldn't affect me so much and I really thought I would have more time, but as matters stand ... no, not really.  
> That doesn't mean I'm going to abandon this fic or anyone else for that matter! Of course not! I love writing too much and writing is too much of a stress reliever for me to ever stop. But I'm not going to upload that often anymore until everything is settle. I'll try to upload at least once a week, but right now I can't promise anything.  
> Especially this fic grew a lot on me and I have so much planned for Aoba and Yuuri, Aoba is my little precious, so I'm not letting them down. But because of everything, please don't be angry when I can't upload that often anymore.
> 
> Bad news delivered, here the character guide to this chapter.
> 
> Formation: 
> 
> Captain Katsuki Yuuri, Dragon: Aoba (Celestial, Heavy Weight)  
> Captain Katashi Hotaka, Dragon: Daichi (Regal Copper, Heavy weight)  
> Captain Monoka Yukiko (Official Formation Leader for her Dragon leads the Formation), Dragon: Riko (Longwing, Heavy Weight, Acid Spitter)  
> Captain Isamu, Dragon: Mikoto (Yellow Reaper, Middle Weight)  
> Captain Ren, Dragon: Masao (Grey Copper, Light Weight)  
> Captain Takeru, Dragon: Kaito (Pascal Blue, Light Weight)
> 
> Other important people:
> 
> Yuuri's and Aoba's Crew:
> 
> 1\. Lieutnant: Ryota Takuya  
> 2\. Lieutnant: Seiichi  
> 3\. Lieutnant and head of the riflemen and gunner: Kazu  
> Ground Crew Head: Tarou  
> Armorer: Aki  
> Leatherworker: Chiko  
> Gunner: Arata  
> Harness Master: Fukita  
> Midwingmen: Amon, Fudo, Goro, Jiro  
> Ensign: Toyo
> 
> Other Important people and dragons in this chapter:
> 
> Training Master Akito (Malachite Reaper, Middle Weight)

Yuuri had slept by Aoba's side again in the little tent. He was woken up by a cadet, informing him that Akito wanted to see him. Aoba gave him a sleepy murmur of farewell, barely opening one eye before going back to sleep. 

Yuuri glanced at the Winchester as they walked through the courtyard. Sousuke was curled in the back corner, far from the other dragons and despite the early hour he was not sleeping but staring dully at the ground. Yuuri looked away. There was nothing to be done.

"Captain, I’m sorry to have called you so early. First, is Aoba well enough to resume his training, do you think?"

"I believe so, sir. He’s healing very quickly and yesterday he flew down to the lake and back with no problems," Yuuri answered.

"Good, good." Akito fell silent, and then he sighed. "Captain, I’m obliged to order you not to interfere with Sousuke any further," he said.

Yuuri felt hot colour come to his face. So Aizen had complained about him. And yet it was no more than he deserved. He would have been furious, too, if someone had interfered with his management of Aoba. He had been wrong, whatever justifications he had given himself and anger was quickly replaced with shame. "Sir, I apologize that you would have to reprimand me. It won’t happen again."

Akito snorted. Having delivered his rebuke, he seemed not to want to dwell onto it. "Give me no assurances, you would lower yourself in my eyes if you could mean them with real honesty," he said. "It’s a great pity and I’m at fault as much as anyone. When I couldn’t tolerate him myself, Aerial Command thought he might do as a courier and set him to a Winchester. For his grandfather's sake I couldn’t bring myself to speak against it, though I knew better."

Comforting as it was to have the reprimand softened, Yuuri was curious to understand what Akito meant by not being able to tolerate him. Surely Aerial Command would never have proposed someone like Aizen as a handler to a dragon as extraordinary as the training master. "Did you know his grandfather well?" he asked, unable to resist asking.

"My first handler. His son also served with me," Akito said briefly, turning his head aside. His head dropped. He recovered after a moment and added: "Well, I had hopes for the boy, but at his mother's insistence he wasn’t raised here and his family taught him strange things. He should never have been an aviator, much less a captain. But now he is, and while Sousuke obeys him, so he remains. I cannot allow you to interfere. You can imagine what it would mean if we allowed officers to meddle with one another's beasts. Lieutenants desperate to be captains could hardly resist the temptation to seduce away any dragon who was not blissfully happy and we would have chaos."

Yuuri bowed his head. "I understand, sir."

"In any case, I will be giving you more pressing matters to attend to, for today we will begin your integration into Riko's formation," Akito said. "Go and fetch Aoba. The others will be here shortly."

Walking back out, Yuuri was thoughtful. He had known, of course, that the larger breeds would outlive their handlers when they were not killed in battle together. Of course it was in Japan's best interests to have the dragon continue in service with a new handler, but he also could not help but think the dragon himself would be happier with duties to occupy his thoughts and keep him from the kind of sorrow that Akito obviously still felt.

Arriving once again at the clearing, Yuuri looked at the sleeping Aoba with concern. Of course there were many years before them and who knew what the future might bring, but Aoba's future happiness was his responsibility and he would have to consider what options he had. Yuuri had however heard how the dragons were more or less inherited by the children of the captains, being here for weeks now and meeting several cadets and other officers and talking to some. He flushed at the thought of one day getting a letter with the request to please produce a child. This was something he wasn’t sure he would be able to do. Well, he still had time of course. This was a problem for the future Yuuri, many years from now on.

"Ao," he called, stroking the dragon's nose. Aoba opened his eyes and made a small rumble.

"I’m awake. Are we flying again today?" he asked, yawning enormously up at the sky and twitching his wings a little.

"Yes, my dear," Yuuri said. "Come, we have to get you back into your harness. I’m sure Tarou-san will have it ready for us."

 

The formation ordinarily flew in a wedge-shaped block that resembled nothing more than a flock of migrating geese, with Riko at the head. The Yellow Reapers Mikoto and Niyori filled the key flanking positions, providing the protective bulk to keep Riko from close-quarters attack, while the ends were held by the smaller but more agile Masao, a Grey Copper, and a Pascal's Blue called Kaito. All were full-grown and all but Riko had previous combat experience. They had been especially chosen for this critical formation to support the young and inexperienced Longwing and their captains and crews were rightly proud of their skill.

Yuuri had cause to be thankful for the endless labour and repetition of the last month and a half. If the manoeuvres they had practiced for so long had not become by now second nature for Aoba and Daichi, they could never have kept up with the practiced, effortless acrobatics of the others. The two larger dragons had been added into position so as to form a back row behind Riko, closing the formation into a triangle shape. In battle, their place would be to fend off any attempts to break up the formation, to defend it against attack from other heavy-combat-class dragons and to carry the great loads of bombs that their crews would drop below upon those targets that had already been weakened by Riko's acid.

Yuuri was very glad to see Aoba admitted fully to the company of the other dragons of the formation, although none of the older dragons had the energy for much play outside their work. For the most part they lazed about during the few free hours and only observed in tolerant amusement while Aoba, Riko and Daichi talked and occasionally went aloft for a game of aerial tag. For his own part, Yuuri also felt a great deal more welcome among the other aviators now.

The captains and first lieutenants generally held such discussions of strategy and tactics at dinnertime or during the late evenings after the dragons had all fallen asleep. Yuuri's opinion was rarely asked for in these conversations, but he didn’t take it to heart. Though he was quickly coming to grasp the principles of aerial warfare, he still considered himself a newcomer to it and he could hardly take offense at the aviators doing the same. Save when he could contribute some information about Aoba's particular capabilities, he remained quiet and made no attempt to insert himself into the conversations, rather listening for the purpose of educating himself.

Yuuri often laid in bed and thought about everything he had learned. A Longwing could spit with tremendous accuracy. In their first day of training Yuuri had seen Riko destroy targets with a single quick spurt from nearly 200 meter in the air and even thought canons could hurt her, it would be difficult to hit a moving target like that. Her real danger would come from aloft. She would be the target of every enemy dragon and aircraft in the air and the formation as a whole was designed to protect her. The group would be a formidable presence upon any battlefield, Yuuri could easily see. And as much as he liked the idea, he was so afraid of going into battle. There could go so much wrong. But it wasn’t like he had another choice.

 

Unfortunately, as the weeks wore on, he saw that Aoba found it harder going to keep up his own interest. The first requirement of formation flying was precision and holding one's position relative to the others. Now that Aoba was flying with the group, he was limited by the others, and with speed and manoeuvrability so far beyond his own abilities, he soon began to feel the constraint. One afternoon, Yuuri overheard him asking: "Do you ever do more interesting flying?" to Mikoto. She was an experienced older dragon of thirty years with a great many battle-scars to render her an object of admiration.

She snorted indulgently at him. "Interesting is not very good. It’s hard to remember interesting in the middle of a battle," she said. "You will get used to it, don’t worry."

Aoba sighed and went back to work without anything more like a complaint. But though he never failed to answer a request or to put forth an effort, he wasn’t enthusiastic and Yuuri couldn’t help worrying. He did his best to console Aoba and provide him with other subjects to engage his interest. They continued their practice of reading together and Aoba listened with great interest to every mathematical or scientific article that Yuuri could find. He followed them all without difficulty, and Yuuri found himself in the strange position of having Aoba explain to him the material which he was reading aloud. 

Even more usefully, around a week after they had resumed training, a box arrived for them in the mail from professor Ono. It was addressed to Aoba, who was delighted to receive a piece of mail of his own. Yuuri unwrapped it for him and found within a volume of dragon stories from the Orient, translated by professor Ono himself and just published.

Aoba dictated a very graceful mail of thanks, to which Yuuri added his own and the Oriental tales became the set conclusion to their days. Whatever other reading they did, they would finish with one of the stories. Even after they had read them all, Aoba was perfectly happy to begin over again, or occasionally request a particular favourite, such as the story of the Yellow Emperor of China, the first Celestial dragon, on whose advice the Han dynasty had been founded.  
He listened also with a wistful air to the story of Xiao Sheng, the emperor's minister, who swallowed a pearl from a dragon's treasury and became a dragon himself. Yuuri didn’t understand until Aoba asked: "I don’t suppose that is real? There’s no way that people can become dragons, or the reverse?"

"No, I’m afraid not," Yuuri answered slowly. The notion that Aoba might have liked to make a change was distressing to him, suggesting that he was very unhappy.

But Aoba only sighed and said: "Oh, well, I thought as much. It would have been nice though, to be able to read and write for myself when I liked and also then you could fly alongside me."

Yuuri laughed, reassured. "I’m sorry that we can’t, but even if it were possible, it doesn’t sound like it would be nice, nor that it could be reversed."

"No, and I wouldn’t like to give up flying at all, not even for reading," Aoba said. "Besides, I like you reading for me. Can we have another one? Maybe the story about the dragon who made it rain, during the drought, by carrying water from the ocean?"

The stories were obviously myths, but professor Ono’s translation included a great many annotations, describing the realistic basis for the legends according to the best modern knowledge. Yuuri suspected even these might be exaggerated slightly. Professor Ono was very clearly enthusiastic towards Oriental dragons. But they served their purpose. The fantastic stories made Aoba only more determined to prove his similar merit and motivated him for the training.

The book also proved useful for another reason, for only a little while after its arrival, Aoba's appearance changed again from the other dragons, as he began to sprout thin tendrils round his jaws, and a ruff of delicate webbing stretched between flexible horns around his face, almost like a frill. It gave him a dramatic, serious look, not at all unbecoming, but there was no denying he looked very different from the others and if it had not been for the lovely frontispiece of professor Ono’s book, an engraving of the Yellow Emperor which showed that great dragon in possession of the same sort of ruff, Aoba would certainly have been unhappy at being yet again marked apart from the others.

He was still anxious at the change in his looks and shortly after the ruff had come in, Yuuri found him studying his reflection in the surface of the lake, turning his head this way and that and rolling his eyes back in his head to see himself and the ruff from different angles.

"Come on, you’ll make everyone think you’re being vain," Yuuri said, reaching up to pet the waving tendrils. "Believe me, they look very good. Please don’t think too much about them."

Aoba made a small, startled noise and leaned in towards the stroking. "That feels strange," he said.

"Am I hurting you? Are they so tender?" Yuuri stopped at once, anxious. Though he had not said as much to Aoba, he had noticed from reading the stories that the Chinese dragons, at least the Imperials and Celestials, didn’t seem to fight, except in moments of the greatest crisis for their nations. They seemed more famed for beauty and wisdom and if the Chinese bred for such qualities first, it would not be impossible that the tendrils might very sensitive which could make them a point of vulnerability in battle.

Aoba nudged him a little and said: "No, they don’t hurt at all. Do it again?" When Yuuri very carefully resumed the stroking, Aoba made an odd purring sort of sound and abruptly shivered all over. "I think I like it," he added, his eyes growing unfocused and heavy-lidded.

Yuuri snatched his hand away. "Oh my god," he yelled, glancing around in deep embarrassment and flushing a deep red. Thankfully no other dragons or aviators were around at the moment. "I better speak to Akito. I should have realized when they sprouted. It must mean you have reached your full growth and are sexually mature."

Aoba blinked. "Oh, okay. But do you have to stop?" he asked plaintively.

"Those are excellent news," Akito said, when Yuuri had told him. "We cannot breed him yet, for he cannot be spared for so long, but I’m very pleased regardless. I’m always anxious when sending an immature dragon into battle. And I will send word to the breeders. They will think of the best potential crosses to make. The addition of Celestial blood to our lines can only be of the greatest benefit."

"Is there anything - some kind of relief - " Yuuri stopped, not really sure how to word the question in a way which would not seem outrageous. He was blushing again and stared at the ground in embarrassment.

"We will have to see, but I think you don’t have to worry," Akito said dryly. "We are not like horses or dogs. We can control ourselves at least as well as you humans."

Yuuri was relieved. He had feared that Aoba might find it difficult now to be in close company with Riko or Mikoto or the other female dragons, though he rather thought Masao was too small to be a partner of interest to him. But he expressed no interest of that sort in them. Yuuri asked him once or twice, in a hinting way and Aoba seemed mostly baffled at the notion.

Nevertheless there were some changes, which became perceptible by degrees. Yuuri first noticed that Aoba was more often awake in the mornings without having to be roused. His appetites changed also and he ate less frequently, though in greater quantities and might voluntarily go so long as two days without eating at all.

Yuuri was concerned that Aoba was starving himself to avoid the sideways looks of the other dragons at his new appearance. However, when Yuuri asked him about it, Aoba assured him that this was not the case at all. Yuuri just sighed and smiled in relief. 

But it still didn’t change the fact that Aoba was very much still not at all motivated and Yuuri came to a dead end. When he consulted Akito about it, he said: “Truth is, he’s a little too intelligent to be an ideal formation fighter. If the situation were different, we would make him a formation leader or an independent and he would do very well. But as matters stand, given his weight, we must have him in formation and that means he must learn manoeuvres. But they’re simply not enough to hold his attention. It’s not a very common complaint, but I have seen it before and the signs are unmistakable." Seeing that Yuuri had fallen silent, the training master continued: “Encourage him, praise him, keep him confident in your affection and he will not suffer from it.”

So he only bowed, and said: "I understand, sir. Thank you for the explanation." 

These were the circumstances which first gave him the notion of explaining formation tactics to Aoba. He did so more for Aoba's sake than his own, hoping to give the dragon some more intellectual interest in the manoeuvres. But Aoba followed the subject with ease and shortly the lessons became real discussion, as valuable to Yuuri as to Aoba, and more than compensating for his lack of participation in the debates which the captains held among themselves.

Together they embarked on designing a series of their own manoeuvres, taking advantage of Aoba's unusual flying capabilities, which could be fitted into the slower and more methodical pace of the formation. Akito himself had spoken of designing such manoeuvres, but the pressing need for the formation had forced him to put aside the plan for the immediate future.

Yuuri salvaged an old flight-table from the attics, recruited Tarou’s help to repair its broken leg and set it up in Aoba's clearing under his dragon's interested eyes. It was a sort of vast diorama set upon a table, with a latticework on top. Yuuri didn’t have a set of the proper scale figures of dragons to hang from it, but he substituted whittled and coloured bits of wood and by tying these with bits of thread from the lattice, they were able to display three-dimensional positions for each other's consideration.

Aoba from the beginning displayed an intuitive grasp of aerial movement. He could instantly tell whether a manoeuvre was possible or not and describe the movements necessary to bring it about if so. The initial inspiration for a new manoeuvre was most often his. Yuuri in turn could better assess the relative military strengths of various positions and suggest modifications as would improve the force which might be brought to bear.

Their discussions were lively and vocal and attracted the attention of the rest of his crew. Ryota tentatively asked to observe and when Yuuri agreed, was shortly followed by the second lieutenant, Seiichi, and many of the midwingmen. Their years of training and experience gave them a foundation of knowledge which both Yuuri and Aoba lacked, and their suggestions further refined the design.

"Sir, the others have asked me to propose to you that we might try some of the new manoeuvres," Ryota said to him, some few weeks into the project. "We’d be more than happy to sacrifice our evenings to the work. It would be shameful not to have a chance of showing what he can do."

Yuuri was deeply moved, not merely by their enthusiasm, but by seeing that Ryota and the crew felt the same desire to see Aoba acknowledged and approved. He was very glad to find the others as proud of and for Aoba as he himself was. "If we have enough hands present tomorrow evening, why not," Yuuri said.

Every officer from his three runners on up was present ten minutes early. Yuuri looked over them a little bemused as he and Aoba descended from their daily trip to the lake. He only now realized, with all of them lined up and waiting, that his aerial crew wore their full uniforms, even now in this impromptu session. 

Tarou-san and the ground crew were also ready and waiting. Even though Aoba was inclined to fidget in his excitement, they swiftly had him in his combat-duty harness and the aerial crew came swarming aboard.

"All aboard and latched on, sir," Ryota said, taking up his own launch position on Aoba's right shoulder.

"Okay. Ao, we’ll start with the standard clear-weather patrol pattern twice, then shift to the modified version on my signal," Yuuri said.

Aoba nodded, his eyes bright, and launched himself into the air. It was the simplest of their new manoeuvres and Aoba had little difficulty following it. The greater problem, Yuuri saw at once, as Aoba pulled out of the last corkscrewing turn and back into his standard position, would be in accustoming the crew. The riflemen had missed at least half their targets and Aoba's sides were stained where the lightly weighted sacks full of ash that stood for bombs in practice had hit him instead of falling below.

"Well, Ryota-san, we have some work ahead of us before we can show it off," Yuuri said, and Ryota nodded ruefully.

"Yes. Maybe we should fly a little slower first?" Ryota suggested.

"I think we have to adjust our thinking as well," Yuuri said, studying the pattern of ash marks. "We can’t hurl bombs during these quick turns he makes, there’s no way we can be sure of missing him. So we have to wait and release the equivalent of a full broadside in the moments when he’s level. We’ll be at greater risk of missing a target entirely, but that’s safer than hurting Ao.”

Aoba flew in an easy circuit while the topmen and bellmen hastily adjusted their bombing gear. This time, when they attempted the manoeuvre again, Yuuri saw the sacks falling away and there were no fresh marks to be seen on Aoba's sides. The riflemen, also waiting for the level parts of the run, improved their record as well, and after half a dozen repetitions, Yuuri was well-satisfied with the results.

"When we can achieve perhaps an eighty per cent success rate, on this and the other four new manoeuvres, I’ll consider our work worth bringing to Akito's attention," Yuuri said, when they had all dismounted and the ground crew were stripping Aoba and polishing the dust and grime off his hide. "And I think we can do it. Great performance you all!”

Yuuri had previously been sparing with his praise, not wishing to seem as though he was fishing for their affection but also because he felt strange giving older men praise, but now he felt he couldn’t stop being overly enthusiastic and he was pleased to see the heartfelt response of his officers to the approval. They were all eager to continue and after another four weeks of practice, Yuuri was indeed beginning to think them ready to perform for a wider audience when the decision was taken from his hands.

"That was an interesting variation you were flying last evening, Captain," Akito said to him at the end of the morning session, as the dragons of the formation landed and the crews disembarked. "Let’s see you fly it tomorrow in formation." With that he nodded and dismissed them and Yuuri was left to call together his crew and Aoba for a hasty final practice.

Aoba was anxious that evening after the others had gone back inside and he and Yuuri were sitting quietly together in the dark, too tired to do more than rest in each other's company.

"Don’t worry," Yuuri said. "You’ll do well tomorrow. You have mastered all of the manoeuvres from beginning to end. We have been holding back only to give the crew better mastery."

"I’m not worried about the flying, but what if Akito doesn’t approve of the manoeuvres?" Aoba said. "We would have wasted all our time to no purpose."

"If he thought the manoeuvres were stupid, he would never have asked us," Yuuri answered. "And in any case, our time has not been wasted. The crew have all learned their work way better for having to give more attention and thought to their tasks and even if Akito disapproved entirely I would still count all these evenings of ours a success."

He at last soothed Aoba to sleep and himself dozed off by the dragon's side. Though it was the end of August the summer's warmth was lingering and he wasn’t cold. Despite all his reassurances to Aoba, Yuuri himself was awake early and he could not wholly repress anxiety in his own breast. Most of his crew were at the breakfast table as early as he was, so he made a point of speaking with several of them and eating a lot. Even though he wasn’t hungry.

 

When he came out into the training courtyard he found Aoba there already in his gear and looking over the valley. His tail was lashing the air uneasily. Akito was not there yet. Fifteen minutes passed before any of the other dragons of the formation arrived and by then Yuuri had taken Aoba and his crew out to fly a few circuits of the area. The ensigns and midwingmen were particularly inclined to be shrill and he had them go through exchanging places to settle their nerves.

Masao landed and Daichi after her. The full formation was now assembled and Yuuri brought Aoba back in to the courtyard. Akito had still not arrived. Riko was yawning widely. 

A bright flurry of wings caught his eye. Looking up, he saw Akito coming in to land and beyond him the rapidly dwindling forms of several Winchesters and Greylings, going away in various directions. Lower in the sky, two Yellow Reapers were heading south in company with Shori, though the Parnassian's was still not completely recovered. All the dragons came alert, sitting up. The captains' voices died away, the crews fell into a heavy and expectant silence, all before Akito even reached the ground.

"Kenji has been sent to Iki. Riko's formation must go at once to take his place. Captain Monoka," Akito said, turning to her, "Kenshin remains at Hirado and he has eighty years' experience. You and Riko must train with him in every free moment you have. I’m giving Captain Isamu command of the formation for the moment. This is no reflection upon your work, but with this abbreviation of your training, we must have more experience in the role."

It was more usual for the captain of the lead dragon of a formation to be the commander, largely because that dragon had to lead off every manoeuvre, but she nodded without any sign of offense. "Yes," she said, her voice came out a little high and Yuuri glanced at her with quick sympathy. Riko had hatched unexpectedly early, and Monoka had become a captain barely out of her own training.

Akito gave her an approving nod. "Captain Isamu, you will naturally consult with Captain Monoka as far as possible."

"Of course," Isamu said, bowing to Monoka from his position aboard Mikoto's back.

The baggage was already pulled down tight, and Akito took a moment to inspect each of the harnesses in turn. "Very good. Try your loads. Daichi, begin."

One by one, the dragons all rose to their hind legs, wind tearing across the courtyard as they beat their wings and tried to shake the rigging loose; one by one they dropped and reported, "All lies well."

"Ground crews aboard," Akito said, and Yuuri watched while Tarou and his men hurried into the belly-rigging and strapped themselves in for the long flight. The signal came up from below, indicating they were ready, and he nodded to his signal-ensign, who raised the green flag. Daichi's crew raised their flags only a moment later, the smaller dragons were already waiting.

Akito sat back onto his haunches, surveying them all. "Fly well," he said simply.

There was nothing more, no other ceremony or preparation. Captain Isamu's signal-ensign raised the flag for formation go aloft and Aoba sprang into the air with the others, falling into position beside Daichi. The wind was in the north-west, almost directly behind them, and as they rose through the cloud cover, far to the east Yuuri could see the faint glimmer of sunlight on water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter marks more or less the end of a part. Their training is more or less over and now they have to face real life. That also means saying goodbye to Akito. Pity. I liked him. But he'll appear in the second part a few times. =)  
> Next chapter will make a very big mental challenge and turning point for Yuuri, because he'll be faced with the reality of what it means being a soldier. And it will be the stepping stone to the Yuuri he'll become.  
> Until then, I hope you liked the chapter. =)  
> And I aplogize again, but my family comes first.  
> Until next time. =)  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =)  
> Bye =) ^^


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi?  
> I'm really really really really sorry for not uploading in such a long time! But those last few weeks were some of the very worst of my life. So much happened and I can't really remember when I cried that much. My grandmother from the side of my mother said so many unforgivable things, both to my sister and me and to my mother. Everything escalated and yeah, here we are. It was so hard and stressful and then university decided to kick us all in the ass by flooding us with assignments and papers.  
> And every time I sat down and wanted to write, the words just wouldn't come and I stared at my screen, not being able to write anything. So yeah, this chapter was a pain in the ass and I apologize if it's not angsty or good as it should be, but I've been a complete mess for weeks now and it's hard to concentrate of writing something to be even remotely good. -.-  
> So please forgive me if this chapter isn't as good as it should be. -.-

The bullet passed so close it stirred Yuuri's hair. The crack of return fire sounded behind him and Aoba slashed out at the Korean dragon as they swept past, raking the deep blue hide with long gashes even as he twisted gracefully to avoid the other dragon's talons.

"It's a Bam geulimja, sir, the colouring," Ryota shouted, wind whipping away at his hair, as the blue dragon pulled away with a bellow and wheeled about for another attempt at the formation, its crew already clambering down to stanch the bleeding. The wounds were not disabling.

Yuuri nodded dumbly. Since the attack started, he couldn’t stop shivering. His whole body trembled and he had the feeling he had to vomit. All around him the dragons were fighting, slashing at each other and trying to outdo the other. He felt like he was in a nightmare, full of screams and pain, not knowing what to do. And he would have probably collapsed in pure terror, were it not for that warm dragon body under him, reminding that he wasn’t alone. And even though he just wanted to curl up and hide, he knew he couldn’t. Not when not just his whole crew were depending on him but also his beloved Aoba. How could he give up and be scared when his partner was clearly fighting?

And Yuuri knew, he could panic later. While he was on this battlefield, he had to hold himself together and calm down. Breakdown can come after they were in safety. So he pinched himself hard and forced every bit of rising anxiety and panic down. Now was not the time for it.

"Yes. Amon-san," He called, more loudly, but more like a tactic to get himself together, "Get the flash-powder ready! We need to get away from him." The Korean breeds were heavily built and dangerous but they were nocturnal by nature and their eyes sensitive to sudden flashes of bright light. "Seiichi-san, we need to give warning to the others, give a signal."

A quick confirmation came from Mikoto's signal-ensign. The Yellow Reaper was herself engaged in fending off a spirited attack against the front of the formation by a Korean middleweight. Yuuri reached out to pat Aoba's neck, catching his attention. "We’re going to give the Bam geulimjaa dose of flash-powder," He shouted. "Hold this position and wait for the signal."

"I’m ready," Aoba answered, a deep note of excitement ringing in his voice, he was almost trembling. Yuuri was definitely _not_ sharing his excitement.

"Please be careful," Yuuri could not help adding. The Korean dragon was an older one, judging by its scars, and he didn’tt want Aoba to be hurt through overconfidence nor did he know what he would do or how he would react if he were to see his beloved dragon hurt right before his eyes while he could do nothing.

The Bam geulimjaa narrowed towards them, trying once again to barrel between Aoba and Kaito. The goal was clearly to split apart the formation, injuring one or the other dragon in the process, which would leave Riko vulnerable to attack from behind on a subsequent pass. Isamu was already signalling a new manoeuvre which would bring them about and give Riko an angle of attack against the Bam geulimja, which was the largest of the Korean assailants, but before it could be accomplished this next run had to be deflected.  
Yuuri was still trembling and in his attempt to calm himself down, his nails were pushed into his palms and even though the leather he could feel the pain. It grounded him. 

"Get the powder ready!" Yuuri yelled, using the speaking-trumpet to amplify his orders, as the massive blue-and-black creature came roaring towards them. The speed of the engagement was far beyond anything Yuuri had ever before experienced. A pass was over in less than one minute and then a second came almost immediately. This time the Korean dragon was angling closer towards Kaito, wanting nothing more to do with Aoba's claws, the smaller Pascal's Blue would not be able to hold his position against the great bulk. "Hard to larboard, close with him!" he shouted to Aoba.

Aoba answered at once, his great black wings abruptly swivelled and tilted them towards the Bam geulimja and Aoba closed more swiftly than a typical heavy-combat dragon would have been able to do. The enemy dragon jerked and looked at them in reflex and Yuuri shouted, "Light the powder," as he caught a glimpse of the pale white eyes.

He only just closed his own eyes in time. The brilliant flash was visible even through his eyelids and the Bam geulimja bellowed in pain. Yuuri opened his eyes again to find Aoba slashing fiercely at the other dragon, carving deep strokes into its belly and his riflemen strafing the bellmen on the other side. At seeing the blood splashing out of those wounds Yuuri was once again feeling faint, but thanks to their activities, his adrenaline was high and he could hold himself together. But he knew that he would have nightmares for quite a while.

"Ao, hold your position," Yuuri called. Aoba was in danger of falling behind in his enthusiasm for fighting off the other dragon.

With a start, Aoba beat his wings in a flurry and lunged back into his place in the formation. Isamu's signal-ensign raised the green flag, and as a unit they all wheeled around in a tight loop, Riko already opening her jaws and hissing. The Bam geulimja was still flying blind, and streaming blood into the air as its crew tried to guide it away.

"Enemy above! Enemy above!" Daichi's larboard lookout was pointing frantically upwards. Even as the boy shrilled, a terrible thick roaring like thunder sounded in their ears and drowned him out. A Keun Gisa came plummeting down towards them. The dragon's pale belly had allowed it to blend into the heavy cloud cover undetected by the lookouts and now it descended towards Riko, great claws opening wide. It was nearly twice her size, and outweighed even Daichi.

Yuuri was shocked to see Mikoto and Niyori both suddenly drop. He realized belatedly it was the reflex which Celeritas had warned them of, so long ago, a reaction to being startled from above. Kaito had given a startled jerk of his wings, but recovered, and Masao had kept her position, but Daichi had put on a burst of speed and overshot the others and Riko herself was wheeling around in instinctive alarm. The formation had dissolved into chaos, and she was wholly exposed.

"Ready all guns, straight at him!" he roared, as much as he didn’t want to, for that would mean hurting another dragon, but he had no choice, signaling frantically to Aoba, it was unnecessary, for after a moment's hovering, Aoba had already launched himself to Riko's defense. The Keun Gisa was too close to deflect him entirely, but if they could strike him before he was able to latch on to Riko, they could still save her from a fatal mauling, and give her time to strike back.

The four other Korean dragons were all coming about again. Aoba put on a burst of sudden speed and just barely slid past the reaching claws of the Eobu Wang, and collided with the great Korean beast with all his claws outstretched even as the Keun Gisa slashed at Riko's back.

She shrieked in pain and fury, thrashing, the three dragons were all entangled now, beating their wings furiously in opposite directions, clawing and slashing. Riko could not spit upwards, they had to somehow get her loose, but Aoba was much smaller than the Keun Gisa, and Yuuri could see the enormous dragon's claws sinking deeper into Riko's flesh, even though her crew were hacking at the iron-hard talons with axes. Yuuri was so worried suddenly. To see a beloved dragon an comrade so hurt let him rage and forget his fear. He couldn’t let her be hurt anymore!

"Get a bomb up here," Yuuri snapped to Ryota. They would have to try and hurl one into the Keun Gisa's belly-rigging, despite the danger of missing and striking Aoba or Riko.

Aoba kept slashing away in a blind passion, his sides belling out for breath, he roared so tremendously that his body vibrated with the force and Yuuri's ears ached. The Keun Gisa shuddered with pain. Somewhere on his other side, Daichi also roared, blocked from Yuuri's sight by the Korean dragon's bulk. The attack had its effect. The Keun Gisa bellowed in his deep hoarse voice and his claws sprang free.

"Cut loose," Yuuri shouted. "Ao, cut loose! Get between him and Riko." In answer, Aoba pulled himself free and dropped. Riko was moaning, streaming blood and she was losing elevation rapidly. Having driven off the Keun Gisa was not enough. The other dragons were now as great a danger to her until she could get back aloft into fighting position. Yuuri heard Captain Monoka calling orders whose words he could not make out. Abruptly Riko's belly-rigging fell away like a great net sinking down through the clouds and bombs, supplies, baggage, all went tumbling down and vanished into the waters of the Ocean below. Her ground crew were all tying themselves to the main harness instead.

Thus lightened, Riko shuddered and made a great effort, beating back up into the sky; the wounds were being packed with white bandages, but even at a distance Yuuri could see she would need stitching. It hurt him practically physically seeing the poor dragon so hurt and he wanted them to get away, get a doctor so they would please stop the bleeding! 

Daichi had the Keun Gisa engaged, but the Eobu Wang and the Bam geulimja were falling into a small wedge formation with the other Korean middle-weight, preparing to take a dash at Riko again. Aoba maintained position just above Riko and hissed threateningly, his bloody claws flexing, but she was climbing too slowly.

The battle had turned into a wild melee. Though the other Japanese dragons had now recovered from their initial fright, they were in no sort of order. Monoka was wholly occupied with Riko's difficulties and the last Korean dragon, an Eobu Wang was fighting Mikoto far below. Clearly the Korean had identified Isamu as the commander and were keeping him out of the way. A strategy Yuuri could grimly admire. He had no authority to take command and no confidence or experience, he was the most junior captain in the party, but something had to be done.

"Signal, sir, form up around leader," Toyo suddenly said, pointing.

Yuuri looked back and saw Mikoto swinging into Daichi's usual place with signal-flags waving. She had fought herself free and tried to help. Yuuri tapped Aoba's shoulder to draw his attention to the signal. "I see it," Aoba called back, and at once backwinged and settled into his proper position.

Another signal flashed out, and Yuuri brought Aoba up and in closer; Kaito also pulled in more tightly, and together they closed the gap in the formation where Mikoto would normally have been. Formation rise together, the next signal came, and with the other dragons around her, Riko took heart and was able to beat up more strongly. The bleeding had stopped at last, much to Yuuri’s relief. The trio of Korean dragons had separated. They could no longer hope to succeed with a collective charge, not straight into Riko's jaws, and the formation would be up to the level of the Keun Gisa in a moment.

Daichi broke away, the signal flashed. Daichi was still engaged in close quarters with the Keun Gisa, and rifles were cracking away on both sides. The great Regal Copper gave a final slash of his claws and pushed away, just a fraction too soon, for the formation was not yet high enough, and another few moments were necessary before Riko would be able to strike.

The Keun Gisa's crew now saw his fresh danger and sent the big dragon back aloft, a great deal of shouting going on aboard in Korean. Though he was bleeding from many wounds, the Keun Gisa was so large that these did not hinder him severely and he was still able to climb quicker than the injured Riko. After a moment, Isamu signaled, Formation hold elevation, and they gave up the pursuit.

The Korean dragons came together at a distance into a loose cluster, wheeling around as they considered their next attack. But then they all turned as one and fled rapidly north-east. Aoba's lookouts were all calling out and pointing to the south and when Yuuri looked over his shoulder he saw ten dragons flying towards them at great speed, Japanese signals flashing out from the Longwing in the lead.

 

The Longwing was Kenshin. He and his formation accompanied them along the rest of the journey to the covert, the two heavyweights among them taking it in turn to support Riko on the way. She was making reasonable progress, but her head was drooping and she made a very heavy landing, her legs trembling so that the crew only barely managed to scramble off before she crumpled to the ground. Captain Monoka's face was streaked with unashamed tears, and she ran to Riko’s head and stood there caressing her and murmuring loving encouragement while the surgeons began their work.

Yuuri directed Aoba to land on the very edge of the covert's landing ground, so the injured dragons might have more room. Daichi, Mikoto and Niyori had all taken painful if not dangerous wounds in the battle, though nothing like what Riko had suffered and their low cries of pain were very difficult to hear. Yuuri shuddered and stroked Aoba's sleek neck. He was deeply grateful for Aoba's quickness and grace, which had preserved him from the others' fate. "Ryota-san, let’s unload and see what we can spare to help Riko and the other’s. They don’t seem to have any luggage left anymore."  
Yuuri said with the steadiest voice he could muster, but he realized that he was trembling and hurting all at once. His whole body didn’t seem to want to obey him and he was short on passing out. He stood with his back to his crew, in hopes of not showing any weakness in front of them. 

"Yes, sir," Ryota said, turning to give the orders at once. If he realized that Yuuri was trembling, he didn’t say anything.

It took several hours to settle the dragons down and get them unpacked and fed. Fortunately the covert was a very large one, covering perhaps one hundred acres when including the cattle pastures and there was no difficulty about finding a comfortably large clearing for Aoba. Aoba was wavering between excitement at having seen his first battle and deep anxiety for Riko's sake. For once he ate only indifferently and Yuuri finally told the crew to take away the remainder of the carcasses. "We can hunt in the morning, there is no need to force yourself to eat," he said.

"Thank you. I really do not feel very hungry at the moment," Aoba said, settling down his head. He was quiet while they cleaned him, until the crewmen had gone and left him alone with Yuuri. Ryota and a few of the older member’s threw him concerned looks, some seemed to want to say something, but were silenced with elbows into their sides and Ryota herded them all away quickly, throwing one last concerned look at Yuuri before he too vanished. Aoba’s eyes were closed to slits, and for a moment Yuuri wondered if he had fallen asleep, then he opened them a little more and asked softly, "Yuuri, is it always so, after a battle?"

But Yuuri barely heard his partner. His trembling finally started to get worse and he hugged himself tightly. Tears fell down his face, his vision was blurry. Suddenly he was unable to breathe. He started to panic.

“Yuuri? Are you alright? Yuuri! What is with you?” It was as if Yuuri heard the voice of Aoba from a distance. His ears couldn’t pick up the noises clear and he heard and felt everything like through a veil.

He lunged forward into a bush and vomited. He felt terrible. Everything came rushing back to him and he could only feel terror creeping up on him. He was so scared. And Yuuri just wanted to vanish: He curled into himself where he was, crying and trembling, burying his hands in his hair. Blood was rushing through his body, his pulse was way too high and everything he saw was red.

“YUURI!” He barely felt the panicked nudge from his dragon, too wrapped up inside his head, being held prisoner by his own thoughts. Behind his eyelids he saw those scenes of the battle over and over again. The terrible claws burying themselves inside bodies of flesh, blood spurting out, cries of pain echoing inside his mind. 

And he was so scared! Riko’s eyes so full of pain just wouldn’t leave his mind. But suddenly, it wasn’t Riko in his head but Aoba. What if Aoba would be one day be the one so terribly hurt, if the claws of some other dragon or even the weapons of some enemy were to tear through the flesh of his dear companion? What would he do? He just couldn’t bear it.

Suddenly warmth engulfed him. His own heartbeat was frantic and out of control, but suddenly the calming but loud beat of some other body tore itself through his hazy mind and woke him up from his terrible memories. 

Yuuri looked up and the scared and panicked eyes of his beloved dragon looked down on him. Aoba had spread out his wings around them, his forelegs around his captain and Yuuri was engulfed in the comforting and familiar smell and feeling of his partner. Aoba nuzzled him carefully but with a certain panic behind. 

“Yuuri? Please! Can you hear me? What is wrong with you? Shall I call for someone? Are you hurt? Did something happen to you? Did some weapon hit or hurt you? Please, answer me already!” The black creature was scared himself at receiving no response from his captain, trying and hoping for him to just get an answer already.

Yuuri suddenly remembered where he was and saw the dragon in front of him clearly starting to panic of worry. So he laid a hand on his soft snout, stroking him and trying a small smile. It was hard, but his dragon needed to know that he was okay now.

“I’m fine … or something like that. Please don’t worry about me.” He croaked out, but even he knew that this had not been very convincing. And Aoba also realized it very fast.

“But I do! You just vomited out of nowhere and you’re still trembling all over! And you were crying and you wouldn’t answer me! So don’t lie to me! Please! What is wrong?” Aoba sounded clearly distressed and it hurt Yuuri knowing that he was the cause for it.

“I-I’m so sorry. I’m really sorry Ao, for making you worry. Please, I’m fine. Don’t concern yourself over my wellbeing. It’s going to be alright.” Yuuri tried to reassure him, but the dragon would have none of it.

“You don’t sound fine at all! You are clearly distressed and I won’t let you being hurt and not try to do something. So please, just tell me what is wrong with you so I can call for help!” Aoba sounded almost childish in his insistence to know, but in the end his worry in his voice was what convinced Yuuri.

The captain sighed. He came closer and put his cheek on the warm hide of his companion, closing his eyes. “It’s hard to explain,” He finally mumbled. Silence followed and Aoba didn’t move. Yuuri continued: “I knew it would be hard. I knew it would be terrible, but imagining it and being part of it are two different things. I was so scared when we were suddenly attacked and seeing such terrible wounds scared me. Last time your wounds were shallow and healed in no time. This time they tore right through her flesh until her bones could be seen and it was so terrible.”

Yuuri breathed in the scent of his dragon to calm himself down and opened his eyes. “It was hell and it was only the beginning. I’ve never been the strongest person, but seeing all this … it was so terrible and I just wanted everything to end.”

The boy looked up and threw his beloved partner a sad smile. “I’m sorry, “He said, “I know you always wanted to go into battle, to prove yourself, but me … I have always been scared of the prospect and am mentally weak. I think you wouldn’t really understand though, for you are a completely different league than me and wouldn’t have many problems. But for me to see what it really means and does, comrades and friends getting hurt, death always looming right over you, it is really hard for me to accept and live it. It’s different for me to tell me myself that, but a completely other thing to really go through with it.”

Yuuri sighed and leaned his forehead against the warm hide again. “I’m really sorry. I know you deserve a captain who wouldn’t have a problem with it. Who wouldn’t panic and get into a frenzy just because he saw blood and I’m sorry you’re grounded with someone as useless as me. You really do deserve better.”

“Don’t say that!” 

Yuuri looked up in surprise at the insistent and angry voice of Aoba. “Ao?” He asked in confusion when he saw the other’s eyes glaring down at him in outrage.

“Don’t say I deserve better! That’s not true and you _know_ that! You know that I wouldn’t want another captain! You know that I’ll always want you because you’re amazing! So you cried, but who cares? It doesn’t mean you’re weak! You gave up so much for me, you gave up your dream and your life just so you could be with me! Because I wouldn’t accept another captain you left everything behind and went with me. You did it all for me and I am so thankful! You are the very best and even though you wouldn’t have to, you still chose to do it. And I am so very thankful for that because I don’t want anyone else. So don’t say I deserve better! Please!” Aoba declared and stared down at his captain with conviction and fear.

Yuuri was stunned. He didn’t think his dragon would think like that and something warm settled inside his chest. He smiled. 

“Maybe you’re right. But that doesn’t change the fact that it was terrible.” Yuuri mumbled and leaned against Aoba again, letting his steady heartbeat calm him.

Maybe he would never get over the fear of battle. Maybe he would always be scared of them. Maybe he would always loathe going into war. But somehow … somehow he could not get himself to regret it. If it meant that he could stay close to Aoba, he was willing to go through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ... this chapter should have been way more angsty, but somehow Yuuri didn't suffer enough there. Maybe I'll be able to change that with the next. =)  
> I'll try to upload next week, but I'm still a pretty emotional mess and my brain likes to fuck me up these days by nightmares by letting me remember some pretty dark things and replaying and making it more terrible that it was and then waking me up in the middle of the night. Thanks brain, I hate you, too. -.-  
> So I hope you're not angry at me and I see you next time? =)  
> And remember, kudos and comments make me very happy. =)  
> Bye =) ^^


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. =)  
> I'm back! =D  
> Unfortunately not as I'd like but mentally fit enough to write and post a new chapter. =)  
> Stuff happens in life and I do my best to deal with it. As it so is, I'm currently working out a plan as to when to upload which of my fanfictions, as I realized that I just can't update as frequently as like, say, at the beginning of the year. I just don't have the energy or mental capacity to update this often. But I will still do my best and I'll work on this plan. =)  
> As for now, I will probably update this story twice a month, as I don't think I can manage more with my other fanfictions. That means, there will definitely another update this month. When? I currently don't know. I have an exam next week and after that I'm away for a few days on a vacation. Coming down from all this trouble the last few weeks were and getting new energy before my exams all start again. So probably more at the end of the month.  
> But enough complaining. =)  
> New chapter. =D  
> And we're getting closer to the time skip. =D  
> Have fun. =D
> 
> Character guide for this chapter:
> 
> Formation:
> 
> Captain Katsuki Yuuri, Dragon: Aoba (Celestial, Heavy Weight)  
> Captain Katashi Hotaka, Dragon: Daichi (Regal Copper, Heavy weight)  
> Captain Monoka Yukiko (Official Formation Leader for her Dragon leads the Formation), Dragon: Riko (Longwing, Heavy Weight, Acid Spitter)  
> Captain Isamu, Dragon: Mikoto (Yellow Reaper, Middle Weight)  
> Captain Ren, Dragon: Masao (Grey Copper, Light Weight)  
> Captain Takeru, Dragon: Kaito (Pascal Blue, Light Weight)
> 
> Other important people:
> 
> Admiral Kitaki, Dragon: Hikari (Anglewing, but not mentioned in this chapter)  
> Captain Kenshin

Yuuri had spent quite a while at Aoba’s side. The steady beat of his dear companion’s heart and his warmth calmed him down and slowly he was able to control his panic and fears. The boy knew that this would only be the beginning. Soon there would be even more obstacles and more fights to join and he knew that military life would not get easier. This today had been just a small taste of what was to come. And even though he realized that he would probably never really get used to it, being side by side with his dragon made him think that his future might not be so bad after all. As long as Aoba was with him, maybe he could do it. Still, he could still feel the fear and terror in his bones, but they slowly began to ease and he could stand up and breathe again.

He had spent a little more time with his dragon and the two talked all the way through, calming each other down. Finally the eyes of the black beast started to drop. Yuuri stroked his partner’s snout one last time before he left him to sleep. Yuuri walked quickly back to the covert headquarters. The path through the dragon-fields was lit with hanging lanterns and in any case he could see the windows up ahead. An easterly wind was carrying the salt air in from the harbour, mingled with the coppery smell of the warm dragons, already familiar and hardly noticed. He had a warm room on the second floor, with a window that looked out onto the back gardens and his baggage had already been unpacked. He looked at the wrinkled clothes ruefully. As it seemed, they were either too busy to pack more carefully or they just didn’t care. Well, at least his electronic things were packed careful enough that they wouldn’t be damaged.

There was a great noise of raised voices as he came into the senior officers' dining room, despite the late hour. The other captains of the formation were assembled at the long table where their own meal was laying largely untouched.

"Is there any word about Riko?" Yuuri asked, taking the empty chair between Katashi and Masao's captain, Ren. Captain Monoka and Captain Kohaku of Niyori were the only ones not present.

"He cut her to the bone, the great coward, but that is all we know," Ren answered. "They are still sewing her up and she still hasn’t started to eat."

Yuuri knew that was a bad sign. Injured dragons usually became ravenous, unless they were in very great pain. "Daichi and Mikoto?" he asked in concern, looking at Katashi and Isamu.

"Ate well and fast asleep," Katashi said, his usually placid face was drawn and haggard and he had a streak of dark blood running across his forehead into his bristly hair. "That was damned quick of you today, Katsuki. We'd have lost her."

"Not quick enough," Yuuri said quietly, forestalling the murmur of agreement. He had not the least desire to be praised for this day's work, though he was proud of what Aoba had done. But he still felt bad at not trying more. He couldn’t stop the onslaught of doubt and anxiety starting to consume him. If he had been faster in giving commands, if he would have realized more, if he had been better. All this swarmed his head and he started to feel it weighting down on him. And Yuuri realized again how young he was and how little experience he had. He knew and was proud that Aoba had saved Riko from worse because he knew what an excellent dragon he was. But then he realized again that his wonderful dragon had such a greenhorn as captain who even started to panic as soon as everything was over. How pathetic was he?

"Quicker than the rest of us," Isamu said, cutting through his dark thoughts, throwing him a look mixed between acknowledgment and concern and drained his glass. From the looks of his cheeks and nose, it was not his first. "They caught us properly flat-footed, damned Koreans. What the devil they were doing to have a patrol there, I would like to know."

"The route from Ashya to Hirado isn't much of a secret, Isamu," Kohaku replied, coming to the table. They dragged chairs about to make room for him at their end of the table. "Niyori is settled and eating. By the way, speaking of which, please give me that chicken here." He wrenched off a leg with his hands and tore into it hungrily.

Looking at him, Yuuri started to feel hungry himself. Even though he had been very sure that he wouldn’t be able to eat anything, after everything that had happened today and wouldn’t be able to do so for quite a little while. However, as it seemed, he had underestimated his stomach, as he could hear it grumbling. The other captains seemed to feel the same way and for the next ten minutes there was silence while they passed the plates around and concentrated on their food. None of them had eaten since a hasty breakfast before dawn at a covert near to Ashya. Yuuri was eyeing the sake the other captains drank freely and was contemplating of trying it for himself. After all, he was old enough to be a dragon captain, so maybe he would be excused from the underage drinking rule? And after all this, the idea of drinking himself into forgetting was tempting. But then he shook his head. As a soldier he had to be at least a little more responsibility than others and he had to maintain at least a bit of a role model image. And also, he was still hoping for a growth spurt. He would need it, being in the military after all. It would look kind of strange if the captain of such a beautiful heavy-weight was some scrawny little man (currently he had the excuse of still being a teenager, thank you very much.)

"I expect they've been lurking about between Izuhara and Hirado, just waiting to get a drop on us," Kohaku said after a while, wiping his mouth and continuing his earlier thought. "By God, if you ever catch me taking Niyori that way again. Overland it is for us from now on, unless we're looking for a fight."

"Right you are," Ren said, with heartfelt agreement. "Hello, Takano, pull up a chair." He shuffled over a little more and the captain joined them. He was one of the captains from one of the heavy weights in Kenshin’s formation who had helped carrying Riko to the covert.

"Gentlemen, I am very happy to say that Riko has begun to eat. I have just come from Captain Monoka," He said and raised a glass. "To their health, may I propose?"

"That’s great," Isamu said, refilling his own glass. They all joined in the toast and there was a general sigh of relief.

"Here you all are, then, eating, I hope? Good, very good." Admiral Kitaki had come up to join them. He was the commander-in-chief of the Channel Division and thus all those dragons at the Hirado covert. "No, don't be fools, don't get up," he said impatiently as Yuuri and Kenshin began to rise, and the others belatedly followed. "After the day you've had, for Heaven's sake. Here, pass that bottle over, Isamu. So, you all know that Riko is eating? Yes, the surgeons hope that she will be flying short distances in a couple of weeks and in the meantime you have at least nicely mauled a couple of their heavy-combat beasts. A toast to your formation, gentlemen."

Yuuri was at last beginning to feel his tension and distress ease. Knowing Riko and the others were out of danger was a great relief and the reminder that they were currently all safe loosened the tight knot in his throat. Maybe it was also the food, but he felt much better now. His depressing thoughts were starting to vanish and were buried under the reminder that he wasn’t alone. Yuuri was slowly starting to realize that. The others seemed to feel much the same way and conversation grew slow and fragmented. They were all starting to nod over their cups.

Kenshin and Kitaki were deep in silent conversation. “For the moment, all we can do is hope Kenji reaches Iki before the Korean dragons do and that he can do the job. We cannot spare Kenshin if we do not have Riko. I would not be surprised if that was what they intended by this strike. It’s the clever sort of way that damned tyrant thinks."

Yuuri had heard a lot over the last weeks and months and could hardly believe how ignorant he had been before. When he was still a civilian, he hadn’t really cared for all the battles and he mostly ignored them. He also had always thought that the times were peaceful and even though he knew that there was tension between North Korea and Japan, he never would have thought that it would be this bad. War had always been an afterthought to him, something he heard but forgot as soon as the news was over and he changed the channel. Now it was his life and he couldn’t scold himself more for being so ignorant. Not only that but not realizing how many dangers lurked around them. Daily battles and struggles and most of them were not even mentioned. Yuuri had been living in a bubble, not aware of the world around him or the dangers lurking around. Maybe he had been foolish and naïve, but as it seemed, he wouldn’t for much longer. This was his daily life now.

“By the way,” Kitaki said, turning to Yuuri, “I’ll be starting with the uninjured beasts on patrolling over the Channel Fleet while the others recover. You can touch down for a bit by the flagship and hear the news. And maybe you can bring a few latters." He laughed. “Even though we live in the times of mails and phones and the internet, many are still sentimental and love sending letters.” He shrugged. “Well, it is nice having something substantial after all in times of war.”

"Will you want us tomorrow, then?" Ren asked, stifling a yawn, not entirely successfully.

"No, I can spare you a day. See to your dragons and enjoy the rest while it lasts," Kitaki said, with a sharp, braying laugh. "I'll be having you rousted out of bed at dawn the day after."

 

Aoba slept very heavily and late the next morning, leaving Yuuri to occupy himself for some hours after breakfast. He met Katashi at the table and walked back with him to see Daichi. The Regal Copper was still eating, a procession of fresh-slaughtered sheep going down his gullet one after another and he only rumbled a wordless, mouth-full greeting as they came to the clearing.

Katashi brought out a bottle of wine, offered Yuuri some, but the boy refused. He still hoped for a growth spurt after all. The older captain just shrugged and drank most of it himself while Yuuri sipped on a bottle of juice as they went over the battle again with diagrams scratched in the dirt and pebbles representing the dragons. "We would do very well to add a light-flyer, a Greyling if one can be spared, to fly lookout above the formation," Katashi said, sitting back heavily upon a rock. "It’s all mostly because our big dragons are young. When the big ones panic in that way, the little ones will have a start even if they know better."

Yuuri nodded. "Although I hope this misadventure will at least have given them some experience in dealing with the fright," He said. "In any event, the Koreans cannot count on having such ideal circumstances often, without the cloud cover they should never have managed it." 

Yuuri could admit to himself that his voice was still not the steadiest when talking about the events and he couldn’t even fool himself. There was still a tremble underneath, as soft as it was. And as it seemed, he was not the only one realizing it. Katashi eyed him and sighed. 

“You don’t have to feel bad, you know?” He said and Yuuri shrugged, staring at the ground. 

“I know. But I still can’t banish the thought that I maybe could have prevented it if I would have realized things sooner. Or if I had just acted earlier.” The younger of the two played with a stick and refused to look up. “I still sometimes think that I don’t deserve Ao. I mean, I’m practically a beginner and I have no experience whatsoever. There are so many good soldiers who waited years and years for even the chance at having a dragon and then there’s this wonderful and rare dragon and he chose some greenhorn like me. I just can’t banish the thought of me not deserving him. And … and I love Ao so much and I want to be with him forever. But I’m scared that one day Ao may wake up and realize that I’m not worth it. That he one day would decide to want someone else. And I know Ao doesn’t think so and he had told me over and over again, but I just can’t banish the thought, y’know?”

Silence. Then Yuuri felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and he looked up in confusion. Katashi looked with a serious and determined glare at him. “You really should stop thinking like that. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard and you should know it.”

Yuuri was confused. He had never heard the older captain speak like that before and it was strange to hear him now like this. Katashi sighed. “I can’t say I understand what’s going on in your head, but believe me when I say that you really don’t have to worry. You handled the situation better than a lot other men I know would and for a greenhorn like you that was quite a feat. What happened with Riko was terrible, yes, but it is not your fault and no one, not even Monoka, would blame you the least for it. I rather think they would all thank you because you were able to prevent worse. You’re fine, believe me. It was your first real battle and then it was such a cowardly ambush. Nothing of glory and fairness. But you still handled it to the best of your abilities. And believe me when I say that you weren’t so bad out there. Training can only bring you so far, but being able to keep a calm mind-set and be able to do what you did, that needs strong nerves. And you showed them. What happens after, no one would judge you for it. You’re young and have never seen a real battle before. But you did what you could and that’s all that matters.” The older captain clapped him on the shoulder. “And believe me when I say that Aoba would never abandon you. I’ve seen the bond you share and it’s too strong for the beast to ever leave you. He’d rather trample his way through whole of Japan before saying you aren’t good enough. He loves you more than everything and sees what everyone else does. You’re a good man with a good heart on the right place. You’re doing fine so far, so don’t worry.”

Yuuri stared at him. He could barely believe what was being said and hearing this from another captain whose opinion mattered a lot to him made him feel that much lighter. He smiled shyly at him. “Thank you.” He said, “It’s just … I thought I was being weak when I started to panic after everything was over. I felt so foolish and stupid for all of that.”

Katashi laughed. “You don’t need to worry about that. When I was Lieutenant, I sometimes had boys and girls vomiting while they were still on top of the dragon. You can’t imagine how the poor beasts always complained. Also, most people would react and panic after their first battle like that. So you don’t have to be ashamed. You did your best and it was enough. So don’t worry.” 

The younger captain only smiled gratefully.

"Gentlemen, are you looking over the plan of yesterday?" Kenshin had been walking past towards the headquarters. He joined them and crouched down beside the diagram. "I am very sorry to have been away at the beginning." His coat was dusty and was stained badly with sweat. He looked as though he hadn’t changed his clothes since yesterday and a thin tracery of red veins stood out in the whites of his eyes. He rubbed his face as he looked down.

"Have you been up all night?" Yuuri asked.

Kenshin shook his head. "No, but I took it in turns with Yukiko - with Monoka - to sleep a little, by Riko. She would not rest otherwise." He shut his eyes in an enormous yawn and nearly fell over. "Thanks," He said, grateful for Yuuri’s steadying hand and pushed himself slowly to his feet. "I have to go. I wanted to bring Yukiko some food."

"Please go and get some rest," Yuuri said. "I will bring her something. Aoba is asleep and I don’t have anything else to do."

 

Monoka herself was wide awake, pale with anxiety but steady now, giving orders to the crew and feeding Riko with chunks of still-steaming beef from her own hand, a constant stream of encouragement coming from her lips. Yuuri had brought her some bread with bacon. She would have taken the sandwich in her bloody hands, unwilling to interrupt, but he managed to coax her away long enough to wash a little and eat while a crewman took her place. Riko kept eating, with one golden eye resting on Monoka for reassurance.

Kenshin came back before Monoka had quite finished, his coat gone and a servant following with a pot of coffee, strong and hot. "Your lieutenant is looking for you, Katsuki, Aoba begins to wake up," He said, sitting down again heavily beside her. "I cannot manage to sleep. The coffee has woken me up.”

"Thank you, Kenshin. If you can, would you like to stay with me?" Monoka asked, already drinking her second cup. "Please don’t worry about me, Katsuki, I’m sure Aoba must be anxious. Thank you for coming.”

Yuuri bowed to them both, suddenly feeling very awkward between those two. Monoka was leaning almost unconscious against Kenshin's shoulder and he was looking down at her with undisguised warmth. Well, Monoka was young after all, not much older than he himself was and hey, if she liked older men like Kenshin, who was he to say anything?

In any case, he was glad to have an excuse to go and he hurried away to Aoba's clearing.

The rest of the day he spent gratefully in idleness, seated comfortably in his usual place in the crook of Aoba's foreleg and skyped with his family. There were more than happy to be able to see their son in good health and even though he tried to keep his first battle experience as light as possible (It wasn’t so easy with Aoba always interrupting him by adding his own deeds and preening and boasting at how he injured the other dragons and fought them off and protected Riko. Really, Yuuri had to cut his partner off more than once before he got to the really gory parts. He didn’t want to traumatize his family after all), he could still see his family, but especially his mother paling rapidly and they asked over and over if he was really alright and not injured. However, Aoba and Yuuri himself could calm her down, after all Aoba was not injured either and he had been fast and strong enough as to not let anything happen to their son. And even though they all didn’t look too happy about it, they all at least accepted and were reassured that with Aoba at Yuuri’s side, the dragon would do his best to avoid his beloved captain to get hurt. As it seemed, seeing their son interacting so freely and with so much fondness and love with his dragon and vice versa, led to them letting their guard down and starting to trust the black beast as well. Even if reluctantly. They were starting to get used to seeing the dragon every time they skyped with Yuuri. Finally, the Katsuki’s were reassured enough and they ended the call.

Having gorged himself to compensate for his lack of appetite the night before, Aoba and Yuuri sat together and Yuuri told him that they would soon be sent on patrolling along the fleet. “Oh, it really has been such a long time since we lived in our cave! I dare say I miss fish! Of course, cattle are great, but I would love to have some fish again. It has been so long!”

Yuuri smiled at this measure of time. "A lot has happened, yeah. I can’t believe it’s not even been a year." He said, stretching himself a little. 

Yuuri was surprised when he saw one of his midwingmen approaching him, grinning brightly. “Sir! I would like to request a leave of absence for this evening.” 

The captain stared at the boy, actually two years older than him (and he was still getting used to being addressed as ‘captain’ and ‘sir’ from boys and girls and men and women older than him. And hadn’t he been submitted to teasing from his sister and Minako when they had all skyped earlier and a few boys had come and been all formal with him) in confusion. “Eh, okay. Just make sure to be ready, fit and awake tomorrow morning, okay?” 

“Yes sir!” The boy saluted, thanked him and then he was gone.

Yuuri was startled by the request. Several of the ensigns and midwingmen had asked him already for a free evening and Yuuri had granted it, knowing that they would probably visit the city, maybe in groups, maybe alone, but all probably gone for some fun.

Aoba watched him go and asked: "Yuuri, is there something particularly interesting in Hirado and might we go and see it? So many of our crew seem to be making a visit."

"Oh dear," Yuuri said. He felt rather awkward explaining that they were all gone mostly because of clubs and liquor and searching for one-night-stands. "Well, a city has a great many people in it and thus various entertainments provided in close proximity," He tried, hoping it was enough of an explanation and that Aoba may please not ask further.

"Do you mean such as more books?" Aoba asked. "But I have never seen Goro or Jiro reading and they were so very excited to be going. They talked of nothing else all yesterday evening."

Yuuri silently cursed the two unfortunate young midwingmen for complicating his task, already planning their next week's duties in a vengeful spirit. "There are also the cinema and concerts and clubs for dancing and stuff," he said lamely. But this was carrying concealment too far. The sting of dishonesty was unpleasant and he could not bear to feel he had been deceitful to Aoba, who after all was grown now (even if he wasn’t even a year old, but he was after all already sexually mature). "But I am afraid that some of them go there to drink, and search for other … company," He said more frankly.

"Oh, you mean whores," Aoba said, startling Yuuri so greatly he nearly fell from his seat. "I did not know they had those in cities, too, but now I understand."

"Where on earth have you heard of them?" Yuuri asked, steadying himself. Now relieved of the burden of explanation, he felt irrationally offended that someone else had chosen to enlighten Aoba.

"Oh, Shori at Ashya told me, for I wondered why the officers were going down to the village when they did not have family there," Aoba said. "But you have never gone. Are you sure you would not like to?" He added, almost hopefully.

"Oh god, please don’t say stuff like that," Yuuri said, blushing and shaking with laughter at the same time. He felt embarrassed talking about that and mortified, but strangely it didn’t feel too bad talking to Aoba about it. He certainly didn’t feel like he wanted to vanish into the ground like this one time Nishigori was talking to him about that topic. But still, a bit embarrassment was still there. "That really isn’t a subject one should talk about in public and those two really should know better. If they can’t stop their behaviour, they should at least not encourage it in other’s and brag about it and especially not where the ensigns might hear."

"I do not understand," Aoba said. "Tanaka said that it was really nice for men and also desirable, for otherwise they might like to get married and that did not sound very pleasant at all. Although if you very much wished to, I suppose I would not mind." He made this last speech with very little sincerity, looking at Yuuri sideways, as if to gauge the effect.

Yuuri's mirth and embarrassment both faded at once. "I’m afraid I haven’t made myself clear enough.” He smiled and stroked his dragon’s snout gently. The beast cradled closer, enjoying this warm gesture from his captain. “You are of course always my first choice and you really don’t have to worry about me getting married. I told you once that you are more important to me than Viktor, but that also counts for other places. I will never do something without considering you, don’t worry. You are my charge and I don’t want to do anything what would make you unhappy.” He said gently and smiled wider when he heard his dear dragon purring while he continued to gently stroke his snout. 

He paused a moment to reflect if speaking further would give Aoba more worry, but in the end he decided to be completely honest and added: "There had been a girl. A close friend and I really liked her. Maybe more than one might expect from a good friend, but I … well, she liked another friend of us more."

"Do you mean she has refused you?" Aoba asked in outrage and very indignantly, as if demonstrating that dragons are different from men. "I am very sorry, Yuuri. If you like to get married, I am sure you can find someone else, much nicer."

"This is very flattering, but I assure you, I really don’t have plans to get married in the near future," Yuuri said, laughing. “Also, I’m way too young to even think about marriage. I’m still a teenager and not even of age. There are still a few more years before I would even be able to start thinking of it and then I’m still not sure if I would even want to get married and settle down.”

Aoba ducked his head a little and made no further demurrals, quite evidently pleased. Maybe it really was a dragon trait, being this possessive of their captain. "But Yuuri - " He started, then halted. "Yuuri," he asked, "if it is not a fit subject, does that mean I should not speak of it anymore?"

"You should be careful if you’re around others, but it’s no problem if you want to talk with me about it. So if you have questions, feel free to ask me, yeah?” Yuuri answered.

"I am merely curious, now, if that is all there is in Hirado," Aoba said. Yuuri stared at his dragon in question and Aoba continued: “When you say you would be too young to marry, then what would the boys do there? They are, after all, of the same age as you.”

Yuuri blushed. “Well, as you already stated, there are brothels and stuff. And even though we are too young to marry, doesn’t mean that they don’t have other … bodily needs. And they go there to find someone helping with it and stuff.” Yuuri really didn’t want to give his dragon the talk. He would really rather avoid the topic.

“Then what about you, Yuuri? Wouldn’t you like to go with them and find someone who could help you with your bodily needs? I really don’t mind spending the night alone if you would rather find someone to take care of that.” Aoba said and almost defiantly grumbled: “After all, if you would do that, the possibility of you searching for someone to marry would shrink and I wouldn’t have to worry about you ever leaving me, regardless of what you say.”

Yuuri sighed. “Really Ao, I’m good. I can take care of my needs myself and I would really rather spend the evening with you than running around, trying to find a date and one-night-stand. And I would prefer if we could just change the topic and please stop talking about you wanting to hook me up with someone for one night because you are afraid of me leaving you. As I said, I’m way too young to even be thinking of marriage and I won’t do it without consulting you first. Also, who said they would all be going to the city just to hook up? There are many other things it has to offer.”

Thankfully, Aoba was satisfied with some further explanation of what the cinema and clubs might be and the other attractions of a city. He turned his attention willingly to a discussion of the planned route for their patrol, which a runner had brought over that morning and even inquired about the possibility of catching some fish for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last chapter was battle and a little Yuuri-Ao bonding, this chapter more bonding between Yuuri and the other captains. =)  
> Even though Yuuri hasn't completely realized, the other's have his back. They are all a team after all. =)  
> And Aoba learning more about strange human behaviour plus possessive and jealous dragon. >D  
> All this doesn't bode well for Viktor in the future. Watch out, Ao's keeping an eye out for you. >D  
> I hope you liked this chapter and had fun. I had a lot of fun especially writing the last part. >D  
> Poor Goro and Jiro. >D  
> By the way, the last part was inspired by [this](http://www.deviantart.com/art/Chance-Encounter-66106097) little comic. >D  
> Until next time. =D  
> And remember, comments and kudos make me very happy. =D  
> Bye =D ^^


	12. Explanation

Hey guys.

First of all, I’m really really sorry. I know you guys have hoped for a new chapter, but currently all my stories are on hold. You may have realized that I haven’t updated in very long and I really regret that.  
As to why, well, let’s say my life really hates me right now. I think it’s not fair to you, who are still waiting, to just leave you without an explanation, so I’ll try to explain my situation.

If you ignore my exam situation and my stress situation, and remember how my update schedule was before, you might have realized that I was always really invested in my stories and even exams couldn’t stop me from writing. It was a great outlet and relief for me and I loved writing, still do. 

But then my situation changed. I had to go through 2 huge losses. 2 deaths in close proximity and I wasn’t handling it well. One loss was a long time coming as the first person was diagnosed with cancer and was slowly dying. The other person died suddenly without warning and we were left with the sudden grief of not one but two losses. I couldn’t write because I was a mess.

After their deaths my family started to argue and fall apart. For my sister and me it was hard because my parents acted like children around the rest of the family and my sister escaped, throwing herself into her studies and moving back (or away) again. I don’t fault her for that and I can understand her very well. But now I was left with taking the brunt of my parents’ anger and I had more or less front seats to the spiralling madness. It changed for the better after a while, but still, it took a big toll on me and I was emotionally drained, leaving me unable to write and concentrate.

Then the exam time drew close and our professors were probably in a bad mood or something like that because the exams were suddenly ten times harder than before. Seriously! We had several exams were no one, NO ONE, or only max. 10 passed. The norm was 4-8 students who passed on the first try. In a course of 150 students!!! The course is hard already as it is and then the professors throw something like that us. I had barely time to sleep and was emotionally drained as it was and had absolutely no time at all to sleep. So not writing continued.

Finally everything calmed down and I thought I could finally breathe again. But life continued to fuck with me. It seems like whatever higher power there is they love making me suffer. 

Around 2 weeks ago a tumour was found inside my body. We still don’t know if it’s a malignant or benignant one and honestly, I’m terrified. They have to cut it out, but before we know for sure what it is, we’re sitting ducks. I’m so scared of finding out that it’s a carcinoma instead of an adenoma and I really don’t wanna go through therapy. Currently I’m sitting at my laptop, trying not to cry because my life is just a mess. I saw what cancer can do to you and I’m scared of having to go through the same. I’m terrified of this prospect.

That’s why, I’m so sorry that I haven’t been updating or even writing, but I just don’t have the energy for it. My life really hates me right now and I’m scared and terrified and more often than not I just wanna crawl into bed and cry. I don’t know what I did wrong in my last life, but I must have been a person to kick puppies or something like that because otherwise I can’t understand why I have to go through all this shit. It came so suddenly, one moment everything was okay and the next everything came crashing down. 

So all of you, treasure your life and take care of yourself, enjoy those moments of peace and be thankful for your healthy bodies and happy family. Never take it for granted, because it can end in a moment’s notice. 

I really don’t know what to say right now except I’m sorry. But I just can’t write right now. I love all my stories and I really want to continue, I plan to. But I hope you can have a bit more patient until I have a clear head again and get my life back to normal and peaceful. I thought it would only be fair of letting you know why I suddenly stopped writing and updating and I really feel bad every time I see a comment, asking me when I’m going to continue. You are all such loyal readers and you’re the best for sticking with me and I’m really sorry for letting you down. 

Maybe I’ll be able to write again next month or the moth after, but I really want to complete all my stories. I hate unfinished ones and I don’t want to become such an author myself. So please forgive me for not telling you earlier. 

I do hope I still have a few readers out there who are still with me. 

Until then, bye. =)


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